ICINCO 2011 Abstracts

Area 1 - Intelligent Control Systems and Optimization
Full Papers Short Papers
Area 2 - Robotics and Automation
Full Papers Short Papers
Area 3 - Signal Processing, Sensors, Systems Modelling and Control
Full Papers Short Papers
Area 4 - Industrial Engineering, Production and Management
Full Papers Short Papers

Area 1 - Intelligent Control Systems and Optimization

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 104
Title:

AN INTERPOLATION APPROACH FOR CONSTRAINED OUTPUT FEEDBACK
Authors:

Hoai Nam Nguyen, Sorin Olaru, Per-Olof Gutman and Morten Hovd
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is twofold. In the first part, we provide a solution to the problem of the state construction through measurement and storage of appropriate previous measurements. In the second part we consider the robust control problem of constrained discrete-time linear-time invariant systems with disturbance and bounded input. Based on an interpolation technique, feasibility and a robustly asymptotically stable closed loop behavior are guaranteed.
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Paper Nr: 127
Title:

TARGET-AWARE ANOMALY DETECTION AND DIAGNOSIS
Authors:

Alexander Borisov, George Runger and Eugene Tuv
Abstract: Anomaly detection in data streams requires a signal of an unusual event, and an actionable response requires diagnostics. Furthermore, monitoring for process control is often concerned with one or more target (controlled) attributes. Consequently, it is necessary to separate anomalies (and their contributing attributes) that could influence the controlled target strongly, and this becomes more important with the increased number of monitored attributes in modern processes. This task leads to a difficult problem not addressed directly by the machine learning/process control community. We introduce the target-aware anomaly detection problem and present a solution for process control in modern systems (with nonlinear dependencies, high dimensional noisy data, missing data, and so on). The main objective is to identify and rank outliers and also diagnose their contributing attributes with respect to the possible effect on the response. The method is different from traditional linear and/or univariate approaches, as it can deal with local data structure in the neighborhood of an outlier, and can handle complex interactions via the use of an appropriate learner. In addition, the method can be computed quickly and does not require time consuming matrix operations. Comparisons are made to traditional contribution plots computed from partial least squares.
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Paper Nr: 146
Title:

OPTIMIZATION LEARNING METHOD FOR DISCRETE PROCESS CONTROL
Authors:

Ewa Dudek-Dyduch and Edyta Kucharska
Abstract: The aim of the paper is to present a novel conception of the optimization method for discrete manufacturing processes control. This method uses gathering information during the search process and a sophisticated structure of local optimization task. It is a learning method of a special type. A general formal model of a vast class of discrete manufacturing processes (DMP) is given. The model is a basis for learning algorithms. To illustrate the presented ideas, the scheduling algorithm for a special NP hard problem is given.
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Paper Nr: 178
Title:

INNER AND OUTER CAPTURE BASIN APPROXIMATION WITH SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINES
Authors:

Laetitia Chapel and Guillaume Deffuant
Abstract: We propose a new approach to solve target hitting problems, that iteratively approximates capture basins at successive times, using a machine learning algorithm trained on points of a grid with boolean labels. We consider two variants of the approximation (from inside and from outside), and we state the conditions on the machine learning procedure that guarantee the convergence of the approximations towards the actual capture basin when the resolution of the grid decreases to 0. Moreover, we define a control procedure which uses the set of capture basin approximations to drive a point into the target. When using the inner approximation, the procedure guarantees to hit the target, and when the resolution of the grid tends to 0, the controller tends to the optimal one (minimizing time to hit the target). We use Support Vector Machines as a particular learning method, because they provide parsimonious approximations, from which one can derive fast and efficient controllers. We illustrate the method on two simple examples, Zermelo and car on the hill problems.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 46
Title:

A STUDY FOR MANUFACTURING CELL FORMATION APPROACH CONSIDERING SETUP
Authors:

Arthur Tórgo Gómez, Cristiano Galafassi, Iris Corrêa das Chagas Linck and Toni Ismael Wickert
Abstract: This paper proposes a comparison among the exact methods Rank Ordered Cluster, Single Linkage Clustering and the metaheuristics Tabu Search and Genetic Algorithm for Manufacturing Cell Formation Problem. The Manufacturing Cell Formation consists of group machines for processing similar parts or components in order to minimize setup time. Setup time can be defined as the period of downtime between the processing of two consecutive batches. To validate the algorithms results, a metric, group efficacy, is applied to determine the result quality, moreover, the results are compared with examples in the literature.
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Paper Nr: 61
Title:

IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL OF AN ELECTRO HYDRAULIC ROBOT PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION-NEURAL NETWORK(PSO-NN) APPROACH
Authors:

M. Taylan Daş, L. Canan Dülger and Sadettin Kapucu
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel approach based on the training of the Neural Network method with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO-NN) for identification of a hydraulic servo robot. The robot is considered to have two degrees of freedom; one is rotational and the other is translational. A feed forward NN is designed for the problem and the weights of the network are trained using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. In order to demonstrate the performance of PSO-NN, the designed network is also trained and tested with the Back Propagation (BP-NN) algorithm. Test results validated that the performance of PSO-NN is better than BP-NN algorithm both in convergence speed and in convergence accuracy. The results also illustrate that PSO-NN algorithm is an applicable and effective method for identification and control of a robotic system.
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Paper Nr: 62
Title:

COST-OPTIMAL STRONG PLANNING IN NON-DETERMINISTIC DOMAINS
Authors:

Giuseppe Della Penna, Fabio Mercorio, Benedetto Intrigila, Daniele Magazzeni and Enrico Tronci
Abstract: Many real world domains present a non-deterministic behaviour, mostly due to unpredictable environmental conditions. In this context, strong planning, i.e., finding a plan which is guaranteed to achieve the goal regardless of non-determinism, is a significant research challenge for both the planning and the control communities. In particular, the problem of cost-optimal strong planning has not been addressed so far. In this paper we provide a formal description of the cost-optimal strong planning problem in non-deterministic finite state systems, present an algorithm to solve it with good complexity bounds and formally prove the correctness and completeness of the proposed algorithm. Furthermore, we present experimental results showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach on a meaningful case study.
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Paper Nr: 73
Title:

INTERACTIVE SKETCH DESIGN RECOGNITION SYSTEM USING EVOLUTIONARY TECHNIQUES
Authors:

P. Y. Mok, X. X. Wang, J. T. Fan, Y. L. Kwok and John H. Xin
Abstract: In this study, a methodology that hybridizes a sketch design recognition approach with an interactive genetic algorithm is proposed to help laypersons get clothes reflecting their preference. The sketch design recognition approach consists of a composite description model, a sketch recognition method and a database. First, a composite description model based on the knowledge of fashion design is developed to describe the characteristics of a skirt. Second, a sketch recognition method is used to help laypersons get satisfied clothes. Third, a database contains general elements about skirts. Moreover, an interactive genetic algorithm (IGA) is used to accelerate the sketch recognition process. The subjective experiments results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the existing fashion design systems.
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Paper Nr: 108
Title:

GENERATION OF PROCESS VARIANTS
Authors:

Christiane Soika, Tobias Teich, Joerg Militzer and Daniel Kretz
Abstract: Small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) are commonly dependent on large-scale enterprises in their role as a supplier. In fact, growing international competition increases the pressure on SME’s. Hence, it is enormously important, to react as fast and exact as possible on customer demands, while keeping high quality standards at the same time. In order to achieve these objectives, CAPP (Computer Aided Production Planning)-systems were introduced. This paper provides an integrated solution for automated process and production planning and we present our approach for generating process variants by using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO).
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Paper Nr: 113
Title:

IRREGULAR PLACEMENT PROBLEM - Solved with a 2-Level Algorithm and Collision Free Region
Authors:

André Kubagawa Sato, Thiago de Castro Martins and Marcos de Sales Guerra Tsuzuki
Abstract: The two-dimensional irregular open dimension packing problem is a combinatorial optimization problem that searches a layout for a given set of irregular items within a rectangular container so that no item overlaps with other items or protrudes from the container, where each irregular item is not necessarily convex. The container has a fixed width, while its length can change so that all items are placed in it. The objective is to find a layout of the set of polygons that minimizes the length of the container. The proposed algorithm constructively creates layouts from an ordered list of items and a placement heuristic. The placement determines the collision free region (represents the set of translations to create a feasible layout) for the item to be placed. It is shown that the collision free region must be calculated using non-regularized Boolean operations, as contours of no-fit polygons should be ignored. The proposed algorithm to solve the placement problem has two levels, in the internal level the container has fixed dimensions, and the external level reduces or increases the variable dimension. The placement heuristic searches for degenerated vertices and edges as they represent local maximum compaction. Computational comparisons on benchmark problems show that the proposed algorithm generated highly competitive solutions. Moreover, our algorithm updated some best known results.
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Paper Nr: 122
Title:

INTELLIGENT FAULT DETECTION, IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL OF SATELLITE FORMATION FLYING
Authors:

Junquan Li and K. D. Kumar
Abstract: A class of nonlinear leader-follower satellite formation flying system subject to uncertain thruster faults and external J2 disturbances has been studied in this paper with the help of FDI and second order sliding mode control. The faults considered are modeled as constant and time-varying faults which can occur randomly. It is proved that the proposed control scheme can guarantee all signals of the closed-loop system to be semi-globally, uniformly, and ultimately bounded, and the tracking error can converge to a small neighborhood near zero. Simulation results confirm that the suggested control methodologies yield high formation keeping precision and effectiveness for leader-follower formation flying systems. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed active fault tolerant control under thruster faults.
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Paper Nr: 161
Title:

COMPUTATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH STRUCTURE-PRESERVING HAMILTONIAN SOLVERS IN OPTIMAL CONTROL
Authors:

Vasile Sima
Abstract: Structure-preserving techniques for solving essential computational problems in optimal control are presented. The techniques use possibly extended skew-Hamiltonian/Hamiltonian matrix pencils, and specialized algorithms to exploit their structure: the symplectic URV decomposition, periodic QZ algorithm, solution of periodic Sylvester-like equations, etc. The structure-preserving approach has the potential to avoid the numerical difficulties which are encountered for a traditional, non-structured solution, returned by the currently available software tools. Preliminary computational results are presented.
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Paper Nr: 166
Title:

BEAM TRAJECTORY CONTROL OF THE FUTURE COMPACT LINEAR COLLIDER
Authors:

G. Balik, A. Badel, B. Bolzon, L. Brunetti, B. Caron, G. Deleglise, A. Jeremie, R. Le Breton, J. Lottin and L. Pacquet
Abstract: The future Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) currently under design at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) would create high-energy particle collisions between electrons and positrons, and provide a tool for scientists to address many of the most compelling questions about the fundamental nature of matter, energy, space and time. In accelerating structure, it is well-established that vibrations generated by the ground motion constitute the main limiting factors for reaching the luminosity of 1034 cm-2s-1. Several methods have been proposed to counteract this phenomena and active vibration controls based on the integration of mechatronic systems into the machine structure is probably one of the most promising. This paper studies the strategy of the vibration suppression. Active vibration control methods, such as optimized parameter of a numerical compensator, adaptive algorithm with real time control are investigated and implemented in the simulation layout. The requirement couldn’t be achieved without the study of active-passive isolation able to damp high frequency ground motion. Thus, a pattern of a potential active/passive isolation has been proposed opening up prospects on the design of a future mechanical isolation.
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Paper Nr: 181
Title:

OPTIMUM TRAJECTORY PLANNING FOR INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS THROUGH INVERSE DYNAMICS
Authors:

K. Koray Ayten, P. Iravani and M. Necip Sahinkaya
Abstract: This paper presents a method for developing robot trajectories that achieve minimum energy consumption for a point-to-point motion under kinematic and dynamic constraints. The method represents trajectories as a fourth degree B-spline function. The parameters of the function are optimised using a multi-parametric optimization algorithm. Actuator torques have been considered for the formulation of the cost function, which utilizes an inverse dynamics analysis. Compared to other trajectory optimization techniques, the proposed method allows kinematic and dynamic constraints to be included in the cost function. Thus, the complexity and computational effort of the optimization algorithm is reduced. A two-link simulated robot manipulator is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.
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Paper Nr: 189
Title:

2-DOF PI-FUZZY CONTROLLERS FOR A MAGNETIC LEVITATION SYSTEM
Authors:

Claudia-Adina Dragoş, Radu-Emil Precup, Emil M. Petriu, Marius L. Tomescu, Stefan Preitl, Radu-Codruţ David and Mircea-Bogdan Rădac
Abstract: This paper treats aspects concerning the design of two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) PI-fuzzy controllers dedicated to the position control of magnetic levitation system. 2-DOF Mamdani and Takagi-Sugeno PI-fuzzy controller structures based on the fuzzification of some linear blocks in the 2-DOF linear controller structures are discussed. A design approach of three new cascade control system structures is offered. The design approach carries out first the pole placement design of the inner state feedback control system. The 2-DOF PI-fuzzy controllers in the outer loops are next designed to merge separately designed linear PI controllers accounting for the linearization of the process model at certain operating points. Samples of real-time experimental results related to a laboratory equipment are given to validate the new fuzzy control system structures and the design approach.
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Paper Nr: 190
Title:

ITERATIVE LEARNING CONTROL APPLICATION TO A 3D CRANE SYSTEM
Authors:

Radu-Emil Precup, Florin-Cristian Enache, Mircea-Bogdan Rădac, Emil M. Petriu, Claudia-Adina Dragoş and Stefan Preitl
Abstract: This paper deals with the application of an Iterative Learning Control (ILC) structure to the position control of a 3D crane system in the crane position control problem. The control system structure involves Cascade Learning (CL) built around control a loop with a frequency domain designed lead-lag controller. The parameters of the continuous-time real PD learning rule as lead-lag controller are set such that to fulfil the convergence condition of the CL process. A set of real-time experimental results concerning a 3D crane system laboratory equipment is offered to validate the new CL-based ILC structure.
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Paper Nr: 195
Title:

ADAPTIVE COMPENSATION SIGNAL FOR A WHEELCHAIR CONTROL USING ANFIS MODEL
Authors:

Prosper Anouboudem Kinfack Fabrice, Hamam Yskandar and Djouani Karim
Abstract: Wheelchairs users still face challenges when driving their standard design based vehicle. Given the matter, this work aims to implement an assisted control for a wheelchair, depending on the driving behaviour of the user. Therefore, a Bayesian network model will be implemented to help infer on the human behaviour. Thereafter, the inferred state of the user will serve as input to an ANFIS model. The role of the ANFIS model is to generate an assistive signal in order to compensate the input from the user.
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Paper Nr: 200
Title:

A NEW PROPOSAL FOR A MULTI-OBJECTIVE TECHNIQUE USING TRIBES AND SIMULATED ANNEALING

Authors:

Nadia Smairi, Sadok Bouamama, Khaled Ghedira and Patrick Siarry
Abstract: This paper proposes a new hybrid multi-objective particle swarm optimizer which incorporates a particle swarm optimization approach (Tribes) and Simulated Annealing (SA). The main idea of the approach is to propose a skilled combination of Tribes with a local search technique based on Simulated Annealing technique. Besides, we are studying the impact of the place where we apply local search on the performance of the obtained algorithm which leads us to three different versions: applying SA on the archive’s particles, applying SA only on the best particle among each tribe and applying SA on each particle of the swarm. In order to validate our approach, we use ten well-known test functions proposed in the specialized literature of multi-objective optimization. The obtained results show that using this kind of hybridization is justified as it is able to improve the quality of the solutions in the majority of cases.
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Paper Nr: 210
Title:

TWO ELITIST VARIANTS OF DIFFERENTIAL ANT-STIGMERGY ALGORITHM
Authors:

Adrian Emanoil Şerbencu, Viorel Minzu, Adriana Şerbencu and Daniela Cernega
Abstract: This paper deals with the analysis for two types of elitist variant proposed for the DASA algorithm. It is usual for the genetic algorithms to keep the best solution found in the population used from next generation. Another way to insert elitist behaviour in algorithms that construct solution is to use the most attractive components in order to obtain god quality solution, and may be the optimal ones. Based on particularities of ant colony based metaheuristics these two types of elitist behaviour were successfully applied to DASA algorithm. In this paper the efficiency of the proposed elitist variants of DASA algorithms is analyzed using experimental results. The analysis is applied to six benchmark functions from the class of high-dimensional real-parameter optimization problems.
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Paper Nr: 211
Title:

IMPROVED ADAPTIVE META-NETWORK DESIGN EMPLOYING GENETIC ALGORITHM TECHNIQUES
Authors:

Ben McElroy and Gareth Howells
Abstract: This paper investigates the employment of a Genetic Algorithm to optimally configure the parameters of a class of weightless artificial neural network architectures. Specifically, the Genetic Algorithm is used to vary the parameters of the architecture and reduce the rigidity of the mutation algorithm to allow for a more varied population and avoidance of local minima traps. An exemplar of the system is presented in the form of an obstacle avoidance system for a mobile robot equipped with ultrasonic sensors.
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Paper Nr: 212
Title:

NONLINEAR PID: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN ADVANCED CONTROL METHODS AND ITS INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS - The Future of the Nonlinear PID
Authors:

Marco Soares Santos, Jorge Augusto Ferreira and Camila Nicola Boeri
Abstract: The main aim of this paper is to discuss a critical problem in the automatic control area: the difficulty associated with the implementation of the modern control theories in industrial applications. The nonlinear PID is proposed to be the future of the PID, being the suitable method to overcome this practical division. Particular issues discussed include its formulation, classification, methodologies and performances that it must assign.
Paper Nr: 217
Title:

FUZZY CONTROL OF A SERVOPNEUMATIC WEAR SIMULATOR OF ACETABULAR COMPONENTS OF HIP PROSTHESIS - Implementing Nonlinear Controllers for the Angular Movement of Three Coupled Degrees of Freedom
Authors:

Marco Soares dos Santos, Délio João Rolo, Jorge Augusto Ferreira, António Manuel Ramos and Camila Nicola Boeri
Abstract: In this paper, multi-mode nonlinear position controllers are proposed for a servopneumatic real-time control system that performs wear tests on acetabular components of hip joint prosthesis. Three Fuzzy Logic Control mappings were developed for three coupled degrees of freedom of the machine, namely inward-outward rotation, flexion-extension and abduction-adduction, according to the requirements of the ISO 14242-1 standard. Their performances were compared with PID controllers, through several performance analysis criteria, being achieved much better performances with Fuzzy Logic Controllers.
Paper Nr: 222
Title:

KINEMATICS, DYNAMICS AND TRAJECTORY GENERATION OF A THREE-LEGGED CLIMBING ROBOT
Authors:

Tarun Kumar Hazra and Nirmal Baran Hui
Abstract: In the present paper, an attempt has been made to design a three-legged climbing robot. Each leg of the robot has been considered to have two revolute joints controlled separately by two differential drive motors. Both forward and inverse kinematics analysis have been conducted. The problem of trajectory generation of each joint (both for swing phase and support) has been solved to suit the basic motion laws of Newton's. Dynamic analysis of each link of all the legs has been derived analytically using Lagrange-Euler formulation. Both kinematic and dynamic analysis models of the robot have been tested through computer simulations while the robot is following a straight line path. It is important to mention that the direction of movement of the robot has been considered in the opposite direction of the gravitational acceleration.
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Paper Nr: 231
Title:

PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS METHOD APPLICATION IN ELECTRICAL MACHINES DIAGNOSIS
Authors:

J. F. Ramahaleomiarantsoa, N. Heraud, E. J. R. Sambatra and J. M. Razafimahenina
Abstract: Electrical machines are found in many applications, especially in wind energy conversion chain (WECC). However, these machines still remain the most potential of failures. Many researches and improvements have been carried out but in the aim of optimal operation systems, monitoring and diagnosis techniques are among the interests of existing laboratories and research teams. This paper deals with the principal components analysis (PCA) method application in electrical machines, especially a wound rotor induction machine (WRIM), diagnosis. The used PCA approach is based on residues analysis. To perform the matrix data needed for PCA method data input, an accurate analytical method of the WRIM is proposed. WRIM and PCA models are implemented in Matlab software. The simulation results show the potential necessity of the considered PCA method on the WRIM faults detection compared to some other signal analysis method.
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Paper Nr: 276
Title:

TOWARDS A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIGITAL PHEROMONE
Authors:

Hans Dermot Doran
Abstract: In this paper we critically evaluate the research on digital pheromones to date and conclude that the wide variance in the understanding of what a digitised pheromone is serves to defocus research. We examine the classical pheromone-use algorithm, the ant algorithm and conclude that as such it has not been proven feasible for practical use. By examining the failure of proposed applications we derive an application where pheromones appear to offer added value. On critically evaluating an initial implementation we note its success but point out that lacking the understanding of biological pheromones serves to hinder research in digital pheromones in general and bio-inspired robotics in particular. We propose a set of rules and urge researchers to critically evaluate them.
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Paper Nr: 278
Title:

INTELLIGENT HOTEL ROOM ASSISTANT
Authors:

Balázs Tusor and Annamária R. Várkonyi-Kóczy
Abstract: Recently, the usage of smart environment systems has become popular, in order to make everyday living more comfortable and to improve the quality of human life. Intelligent Space (or iSpace) based systems are good examples: they strive to be comfortable and easy to use, even without demanding technical knowledge from their users. However, their aim is not limited to this: in fact, their ultimate goal is to achieve an intelligent environment for higher quality, natural and easy to follow lifestyle. The goal of this paper is to present a research that focuses on developing an Intelligent Space application that is able to comprehend, interpret and execute the detected and pre-processed commands given by human users. The presented solution is also able to learn commands that are given periodically under specific conditions and execute them if the conditions occur.
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Paper Nr: 71
Title:

A METHOD FOR SOLVING BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS FOR NONLINEAR STATIONARY SYSTEMS IN THE CLASS OF DISCRETE CONTROLS
Authors:

A. N. Kvitko and D. B. Yakusheva
Abstract: In this work we obtained an algorithm of constructing synthesis of discrete control guaranteeing that solutions of a wide class of nonlinear stationary systems of ordinary differential equations join the initial point and given endpoint in the phase space. The criterion of selection of endpoints at which the above indicated transition taking into account controlling constraints is possible, was obtained. The effectiveness of the suggested algorithm is illustrated by solution of a specific practical interorbital flight problem.
Paper Nr: 124
Title:

SELF-TUNING ALGORITHM AGAINST MAGNETIC ACTUATOR WIND-UP FOR MILLING SPINDLE POSITION REGULATION
Authors:

Nan-Chyuan Tsai, Rong-Mao Lee and Chun-Chi Lin
Abstract: An Anti-Windup (AW) compensator is applied to the Embedded Cylindrical-Array Magnetic Actuator (ECAMA) to sustain the performance of spindle position regulation under actuator saturation. Since ECAMA is a type of Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB), the maximum supplied coil current and the induced magnetic force are both limited by their extrema. In this work, an AW compensator is proposed and employed to compensate the output of PID controller to prevent saturation of ECAMA. By employing commercial software MATLAB/Simulink and signal processing interface, Module DS1104 by dSPACE, the efficacy of the AW compensation is practically verified by intensive experiments..
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Paper Nr: 139
Title:

APPLICATION OF INTERNAL MODEL CONTROLLER FOR WIND TURBINE SYSTEM CONSIDERING TIME-DELAY ELEMENT
Authors:

Faramarz Asharif, Shiro Tamaki, Tsutomu Nagado, Nagata Tomokazu and Mohammad Reza Alsharif
Abstract: In this paper, we aim to modify the system which includes time-delay elements including closed loop system and uncertainty of the wind turbine system and time-delay elements. Time-delay will happen during the long distance communication. By observing and controlling the attitude of wind turbine system from distance, the transmitted control input and output signal will be delayed certainly. For this reason even thought wind turbine system is a stable system, but it will be an unstable system by time-delay elements. So, here we consider about the IMC method which is one of the robust controllers. IMC method is composed of optimum controller and uncertainty model of control object and time-delay elements. The optimum controller is designed by minimizing the coefficients of external disturbance of output signal by H2 norm in order to stabilize the closed loop system considering the uncertainty of control object and predicted time-delay element and at the same time minimize the effects of time-delay element in sensitivity function. In this research controlling of the angular velocity and pitch angle of bale is considered. In order to have a stable angular velocity, we implied Internal Model Controller. As consequences, angular velocity converges to reference signal with good performance.
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Paper Nr: 141
Title:

IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RIPPER IN INSURANCE RISK CLASSIFICATION - A Comparitive Study using Feature Selection
Authors:

Mlungisi Duma, Bhekisipho Twala, Tshilidzi Marwala and Fulufhelo V. Nelwamondo
Abstract: The Ripper algorithm is designed to generate rule sets for large datasets with many features. However, it was shown that the algorithm struggles with classification performance in the presence of missing data. The algorithm struggles to classify instances when the quality of the data deteriorates as a result of increasing missing data. In this paper, feature selection technique is used to help improve the classification performance of the Ripper algorithm. Principal component analysis and evidence automatic relevance determination techniques are chosen to improve the performance of the Ripper. A comparison is done to see which technique helps the algorithm improve the most. Training datasets with completely observable data were used to construct the algorithm, and testing datasets with missing values were used for measuring accuracy. The results showed that principal component analysis is a better feature selection for the Ripper. The results show that with principal component analysis, the classification performance improves significantly as well as increase in resilience in the presence of escalating missing data.
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Paper Nr: 202
Title:

TOWARDS PATTERNS FOR HANDLING SAFETY CRITICAL ADAPTIVE CONTROL SOFTWARE
Authors:

André A. Hauge and Ketil Stølen
Abstract: This article puts forward a pattern format for use in the safety critical control domains where adaptable components are part of the control software. The pattern format may be seen as a first step towards establishing a pattern language uniting three interests. The first interest is related to the objective of providing the comprehensibility and usability found in design patterns with respect to communication of solutions to problems that may be solved by means of adaptive control. The second interest is related to the need to make explicit the requirements to be satisfied in order to facilitate instantiation of a design in different safety critical contexts. The third interest is related to the need to provide argumentation for risk being satisfactory reduced. The pattern format supports not only documentation of a technical solution to a recurring problem, but also documentation of the requirements that must be satisfied when instantiating a design in different contexts as well as solutions for how the safety property may be demonstrated.
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Paper Nr: 203
Title:

A MULTI-AGENT ARCHITECTURE FOR INTELLIGENT DATA ANALYSIS
Authors:

Jonas F. P. Queiroz, Ivan Rizzo Guilherme and Caio Cesar Batista
Abstract: The present study introduces a multi-agent architecture designed for doing automation process of data integration and intelligent data analysis. Different from other approaches the multi-agent architecture was designed using a multi-agent based methodology. Tropos, an agent based methodology was used for design. Based on the proposed architecture, we describe a Web based application where the agents are responsible to analyse petroleum well drilling data to identify possible abnormalities occurrence. The intelligent data analysis methods used was the Neural Network.
Paper Nr: 216
Title:

FUZZY TOPSIS APPROACH TO IMPROVE QUANTITATIVE RISK ANALYSIS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT CRITERIA AND THEIR MUTUAL EFFECTS
Authors:

Mohammad-Hossein Sarbaghi, Majid Shakhsi-Niaei and Seyed Hossein Iranmanesh
Abstract: In PMBOK, a widely used project management standard, different risks are ranked based on two criteria: their probability and their impact on the project objectives. The multiplication of these two criteria is considered as the index of ranking the risks. This index ignores other criteria and also works weak in some special situations. In addition, it seems ambiguous when an expert is asked to determine the impact of risks on the project objectives via only one variable. This paper proposes a fuzzy multi-criteria approach to effectively analyze the impact of the risks on different important aspects of a project. The proposed approach works in a fuzzy environment with linguistic variables. The concept of linguistic variable is very useful in situations where decision problems are too complex or too ill-defined to be described properly using conventional quantitative expressions. Finally, the proposed approach is performed in a case study and the results have been compared with a deterministic TOPSIS method; which shows a significant difference in rankings when the fuzziness has been incorporated in the risk analysis process.
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Paper Nr: 257
Title:

CARESS1 - Commercial Airliner Emergency Safety System
Authors:

Marvin Oliver Schneider and João Luís Garcia Rosa
Abstract: This paper presents the project CARESS1, which is a connectionist system, using an MLP as network structure and GeneRec as learning algorithm, with the purpose to comprehend unforeseen situations in civil aviation and treat them in order to avoid air disasters. The importance of a new safety approach is discussed, related work is given and a system overview is presented. Shortly the first results (in a simulation environment) shall be obtained. The approach is a new and promising means to automatic problem treatment and might lead the way up to the final aim of a fully automatic aircraft.
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Paper Nr: 262
Title:

CONTROL FOR OTM(ON-THE-MOVE) ANTENNA DRIVEN BY INDIRECT SERVO MECHANISM WITH FLEXIBILITY
Authors:

Min Sig Kang, Jong Kwang Lee and Ki Ho Kim
Abstract: In this study, an OTM(On-The-Move) antenna which is mounted on ground vehicles and used for communication between vehicle and satellite was addressed. Since vehicles move during communication, active antenna LOS(line-of-sight) stabilization is a core technology to guarantee satellite communication quality. Stabilization control of the LOS of antenna which is driven by a motor coupled with gear and flexible driving shaft has been addressed. In the consideration of finite stiffness of the shaft, disturbance torque due to vehicle motion coupled with gear ratio, and kinematic coupling of the outer gimbal dynamics, a stabilization control has been proposed. The feasibility of the proposed control design was verified along with simulation results.
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Paper Nr: 269
Title:

MULTI-AGENT COALITION FORMATION BASED ON CLONAL SELECTION
Authors:

Martina Husáková
Abstract: Coalition formation is by one of cooperative mechanisms used in multi-agent systems. Various approaches of multi-agent coalition formation ensure the coalition stability, optimal allocation of sources and payoff distribution for efficient achievement of individual or collective goals. The paper investigates mechanisms of human immune system from the coordination and cooperation point of view. It specifies requirements for effective multi-agent coalition formation on the basis of these mechanisms. The clonal selection-based algorithm is used to discover the optimal coalition structure. Finally, further directions in the research of exploitation artificial immune-based algorithms for multi-agent coalition formation are mentioned.
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Paper Nr: 271
Title:

SELF-ORGANISED DISTRIBUTION OF TASKS INSIDE A NETWORKED ROBOTIC SYSTEM
Authors:

Sebastian Smolorz and Bernardo Wagner
Abstract: For several years, mobile multi-robot systems are a main focus in robotic research. The possibilities to carry out demanding algorithms in a networked robotic system grow as computational resources used by those robots become more and more powerful and inexpensive. One major question is how to distribute the necessary algorithms and tasks to the available computers so that all requirements are met and furthermore, an optimal distribution pattern is achieved. This paper presents a new approach for generating an optimal task distribution pattern without human intervention based on the concepts of Autonomic Computing and Computational Intelligence. Although still in its conceptual state, we describe why our approach seems to be promising for this particular problem. Additionally, further challenges and research demand are outlined.
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Area 2 - Robotics and Automation

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 55
Title:

OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE WITH SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATIONAL AND ROTATIONAL MOTION CONTROL FOR AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOT
Authors:

Masaki Takahashi, Takafumi Suzuki, Tetsuya Matsumura and Ayanori Yorozu
Abstract: This paper presents a real-time collision avoidance method with simultaneous control of both translational and rotational motion with consideration of a robot width for an autonomous omni-directional mobile robot. In the method, to take into consideration the robot’s size, a wide robot is regarded as a capsule-shaped case not a circle. With the proposed method, the wide robot can decide the direction of translational motion to avoid obstacles safely. In addition, the robot can decide the direction of the rotational motion in real time according to the situation to perform smooth motion. As an example of design method of the proposed method, novel control method based on the fuzzy potential method is proposed. To verify its effectiveness, several simulations and experiments using a real robot are carried out.
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Paper Nr: 63
Title:

A THIRD GENERATION MICRO-VEHICLE TESTBED FOR COOPERATIVE CONTROL AND SENSING STRATEGIES
Authors:

Maximillian Gonzalez, Xinheng Huang, David S. Hermina Martinez, Chung H. Hsieh, Yuan R. Huang, Benjamin Irvine, Martin B. Short and Andrea L. Bertozzi
Abstract: This paper describes the third generation of an economical cooperative control testbed, last described in (Leung et al., 2007). The new testbed vehicles are improved with powerful on-board computing, upgraded and expanded on-board sensing, and enhanced wireless communication, while maintaining economic feasibility and scale. The new hardware allows for increased autonomy of each vehicle and for the implementation of new, more advanced algorithms that rely on increased computational capability. We demonstrate practical use of the testbed for algorithm validation by implementing both previous and new cooperative steering and barrier avoidance algorithms.
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Paper Nr: 153
Title:

TRAJECTORY TRACKING CONTROL OF MOBILE MANIPULATORS BASED ON KINEMATICS
Authors:

Razvan Solea and Daniela Cernega
Abstract: This paper focuses on the motion planning problem of mobile manipulator systems, i.e. manipulators attached on mobile platforms. The paper presents a methodology for generating trajectories for both the mobile platform and the manipulator that will take a system from an initial configuration to a pre-specified final one, without violating the nonholonomic constraint. The contributions of this paper come from the development and evaluation of sliding-mode control scheme for the composite wheeled robot that facilitate maintenance of all kinematic constraints within such systems. Given an arbitrary trajectory,the mobile-manipulator controller must generate a smooth desired trajectory for mobile platform.
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Paper Nr: 164
Title:

ACTION CONTROL METHOD FOR POWERED WHEELCHAIRS CONSIDERING CONTROL INPUT AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Authors:

Yu Ishihara and Masaki Takahashi
Abstract: Powered wheelchair is a mobility commonly used for people with disabilities. Recently, to improve the safety and efficiency of powered wheelchairs, various systems with control assistance are proposed. However most of the systems suppose joystick as input device and doesn’t consider about people with difficulties using it. Not all devices alternative to joystick have enough operability compared to joystick. In this paper, considering corridor passing as verification environment, an action control method to drive through the corridor safely and efficiently for wheelchairs controlled by devices with low operability is presented. To achieve safe and efficient driving, proposed method considers the time series of passenger’s input commands and combines the environmental information to select effective direction and speed for the wheelchair instead of passenger. Moreover for environment recognition, corridor detection algorithm is also proposed. To verify the effectiveness of proposed method, simulations and experiments were carried out.
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Paper Nr: 176
Title:

BILATERAL CONTROL OF MASTER-SLAVE MANIPULATOR SYSTEM USING TIME DELAY CONTROL
Authors:

Jong Kwang Lee, Hyo Jik Lee, Byung Suk Park, Seung-Nam Yu, Kiho Kim and Ho Dong Kim
Abstract: A prototype of dual arm master-slave manipulator system has been developed for use in a hot-cell at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The slave manipulator can handle a 25 kgf payload in any posture, where the gravity force of remote tools or handling equipment has a great impact on the position error which produces the unnecessary force that operator does not have to feel. In this work, we applied a time delay controller for bilateral teleoperaiton of the manipulator system. Experimental results show that the time delay controller has good performance of the position tracking as well as force reflection.
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Paper Nr: 180
Title:

STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESCUE ROBOT PREVENTING CRUSH SYNDROME OF EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
Authors:

Taku Sahashi, Akira Sahashi, Hisashi Uchiyama and Ichiro Fukumoto
Abstract: In the Hanshin and Chu-etsu earthquake, many victims were crushed by rubble and died by “crush syndrome”. Even the simple rescue method that remove the rubble, it could be a cause of death. As the only countermeasure, DMAT (=Disaster Medical Assistance Team) creeps into fallen houses, and treat dialysis or drip “crush injury cocktail”. But these methods are very dangerous for victims and DMAT to treat amid the aftershocks. We think that Rescue Robot technique is just suitable solution for the dilemma under various and dangerous situations. The Rescue Robot has the dual tiered crawler. The Rescue Robot goes through under rubble open, and the victims are held in the container inside of the Robot body. We already built a prototype model, so we present an outline of our rescue robot. And we will show the research of the Blade mechanism to open rubble, and the mechanism of prevent Crush Syndrome that will be mounted on 1/1 size prototype model in the future.
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Paper Nr: 183
Title:

AN OPTIMAL ADMITTANCE REACTIVE FORCE CONTROL FOR COOPERATIVE ROBOT GRASPING TASKS
Authors:

R. Portillo-Velez, A. Rodriguez-Angeles and C. A. Cruz-villar
Abstract: In this article it is proposed an optimal admittance algorithm that controls the position of the end effectors in cooperative robot systems or fingers, in case of robotic hands, reactively according to on-line force sensory data. The method is free of in-depth models or sophisticated external sensors. The sensors used are simple and provide only limited and immediate information, nonetheless they allow to reactively correct the applied force to guarantee object stable grasp. Force sensory information is used to determine modification of the desired movement of the robots at a cooperative system, so that ultimately the applied force to guarantee a stable object grasp is achieved. The proposed optimization algorithm uses force error at each robot as a correction factor when calculating a modified Cartesian desired trajectory, thus it results on real time reactive motion planning. The novelty of the proposed algorithm is that the adaptive admittance controller is obtained as the solution of a dynamic optimization problem which is solved via the standard gradient flow approach. The proposed methodology considers grasps and fixtures whose contacts react according to force displacement laws consistent with friction constraints at the contact points. It is only assumed that each robot end effector is capable of generating its own linear force displacement. Experimental results show that the proposed controller is robust against environmental stiffness uncertainties and its variations, as well as object position uncertainty, as far as an initial contact between the robots and the object is guaranteed.
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Paper Nr: 192
Title:

CAUSAL REASONING IMPROVED BY FUZZY LOGIC FOR DIAGNOSIS OF BOND GRAPH MODELLED UNCERTAIN PARAMETERS SYSTEMS
Authors:

Walid Bouallègue, Salma Bouslama Bouabdallah and Moncef Tagina
Abstract: In this paper, a method for on-line fault detection and isolation (FDI) of bond graph (BG) modelled uncertain parameters systems is proposed. In this case, we don’t have to calculate the Analytical Redundancy Relations (RRAs) since residuals are directly generated from the Diagnostic Bond Graph (DBG). Detection is based on fuzzy logic approach. For isolation, two methods exploiting the causal properties of the BG model are used: Fault Signature Matrix (FSM), and exoneration. A real simulation example is provided to show the efficiency of the proposed methods.
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Paper Nr: 235
Title:

MONOCULAR VS BINOCULAR 3D REAL-TIME BALL TRACKING FROM 2D ELLIPSES
Authors:

Nicola Greggio, José Gaspar, Alexandre Bernardino and José Santos-Victor
Abstract: Real-Time tracking of elliptical objects, e.g. a ball, is a well studied field. However, the question between a monocular and binocular approach for 3D objects localization is still an open issue. In this work we implemented a real-time algorithm for 3D ball localization and tracking from 2D image ellipse fitting with calibrated cameras. We will exploit both approaches, together with their own characteristics. Our algorithm features the following key features: (1) a real-time video segmentation by means of a Gaussian mixture descriptor; (2) a closed-form ellipse fitting algorithm; and (3) a novel 3D reconstruction algorithm for spheres from the 2D ellipse parameters. We test the algorithm’s performance in several conditions, by performing experiments in virtual scenarios with ground truth. Finally, we show the results of monocular and binocular reconstructions and evaluate the influence of having prior knowledge of the ball’s dimension and the sensitivity of binocular reconstruction to mechanical calibration errors.
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Paper Nr: 282
Title:

PERSONAL ADVANCED TRAVELER ASSISTANT
Authors:

Andreea Radu, Leon Rothkrantz and Mirko Novak
Abstract: In spite of numerous road management schemes and developed infrastructure the society nowadays still faces the problem of highly congested roads due to the increasing traffic demand. The focus of this paper is to develop a complex and integrated system that addresses the challenges of dynamic traffic assignment in modern times. We built a design for a Personal Advanced Traveller Assistant (PTA). The main purpose of PTA is to give routing advices depending on the users preferences and the available capacity in the network. The system incorporates a dynamic traffic algorithm that employs a prediction model of future travelling time. The prediction model that the algorithm uses is based on historical data. To conclude, we successfully implemented a working prototype that uses various technologies such as Java, the Open Street Map API for rendering the map or J2ME for the mobile phone client.
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Paper Nr: 283
Title:

INTELLIGENT MUSIC SELECTION TO INFLUENCE DRIVER BEHAVIOUR - An Empirical Study
Authors:

Perry MacNeille, Kacie Theisen and Oleg Gusikhin
Abstract: There is a belief that driving competency and style is influenced by music choices, yet there is little scientific study into the effects music choices have on the way people drive. This paper describes a preliminary explorative study conducted to find evidence of music influencing driving behaviour to justify further research into the area. Three main effects were considered in this study: 1) that music either enhances or impedes the driving activity; 2) that driving behaviour is influenced by whether the subject likes the music being played; 3) that driving behaviour is changed by the tempo of the music being played. The speed holding ability of 39 experienced drivers employed in a large company was tested using a vehicle simulator to observe evidence that speed holding control is influenced by one or more of the main effects.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 16
Title:

DYNAMIC OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE FOR AN ACKERMAN VEHICLE - A Vector Field Approach
Authors:

Tommie Liddy, Tien-Fu Lu and David Harvey
Abstract: A vector field navigation system was shown to avoid dynamic obstacles and reach a goal with a pre-specified position and heading using a simulated Ackerman vehicle. The navigation system was divided into two distinct vector fields, an environmental field which was created for goal oriented navigation and obstacle field which was designed for obstacle avoidance. Discussed in this paper were the methods of obstacle avoidance and combining the two fields of the navigation system. The obstacle avoidance method created a rotational vector field centred on a single obstacle. Algorithms were created to select the obstacle that would be the centre of the field and the direction of rotation of the field. A parameter based method was used to combine the obstacle field and the environmental field. A simulation workspace was created to show the navigation behaviours created by combining these methods and a sample of these results were presented in this paper.
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Paper Nr: 27
Title:

MULTI-ROBOT DECENTRALIZED EXPLORATION USING A TRADE-BASED APPROACH
Authors:

Zhi Yan, Nicolas Jouandeau and Arab Ali Cherif
Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of exploring an unknown environment by a coordinated team of robots. An important question is, which robot should explore which region? In this paper, we present a novel decentralized task allocation approach based on trading rules for multi-robot exploration. In the decentralized system, robots can make their own decisions according to the local information with limited communication. In contrast to previous approaches, our trade-based approach is designed to simulate the relationship between buyers and sellers in a business system, to achieve dynamic task allocation by using a mechanism of unsolicited bid. Our approach has been implemented and evaluated in simulation. The experimental results demonstrate a good performance of the proposed trade-based approach compared to previous approaches.
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Paper Nr: 28
Title:

DETECTION OF OVERLOAD GENERATED FAULTS IN ROBOT MANIPULATORS WITH FRICTION
Authors:

Lőrinc Márton
Abstract: This work proposes a detection method for faults that can appear in the actuators or gear transmissions of robot manipulators due to increased resistance in joint movement or mechanical jamming. It is assumed that the robot system is controlled using a computed torque-like algorithm. The fault detector is formulated as a disturbance observer and it can also isolate the location of the fault, namely in which joint of the robot the fault appears. The detector is based on a disturbance observer which is designed such that it is insensible to high frequency additive disturbances and model uncertainties. Simulation results are presented to show the applicability of the proposed fault detection method.
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Paper Nr: 39
Title:

VELOCITY AND ORIENTATION CONTROL IN AN ELECTRICAL WHEELCHAIR ON AN INCLINED AND SLIPPERY SURFACE
Authors:

S. O. Onyango, Y. Hamam and K. Djouani
Abstract: People with disability increase everyday due to accidents, poor health care and aging of the population. While some of these disabled people are strong enough and can comfortably use manual wheelchairs to move, others are too weak and may find it extremely difficult to drive powered wheelchairs with basic functionalities. Wheelchairs adaptable to various specialized functionalities may therefore be important if mobility of the severely disabled persons is to be ensured. Control parameters adaptable to hand, tongue or even head joysticks may consequently be necessary. Authors of this paper considered linear velocity and angular position for control. With such control parameters the wheelchair user may navigate and reach every desired location. To mimic real outdoor situations, slippery, inclined and flat surfaces are also considered. The dynamic modelling procedure used in this paper is based on the Euler–Lagrange formalism. The wheelchair platform considered in this paper is a differential drive platform with two passive front caster wheels and two active rear wheels.
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Paper Nr: 56
Title:

USING BEHAVIOUR ACTIVITY SEQUENCES FOR MOTION GENERATION AND SITUATION RECOGNITION
Authors:

Christopher Armbrust, Lisa Kiekbusch and Karsten Berns
Abstract: In this paper, the problem of employing behaviour-based approaches to realise complex, deliberative functionalities on high navigation layers is addressed. Behaviour-based architectures typically target at the lower, more reactive aspects of robot navigation. Hence, it is usually not possible to profit from the advantages of behaviours at higher layers. The authors believe that this limitation is not necessary and suggest the use of behaviour activity sequences as a solution. As central element for the realisation of these sequences, a special generic coordination behaviour is introduced in this paper. It is explained how behaviour activity sequences can be used to generate robot motions as well as to recognise certain situations which a robot may encounter. As examples, the behaviour-based generation of turning manoeuvres and the recognition of dead ends with behaviour activity sequences are shown. The developed concepts demonstrate how to benefit from the typical properties of behaviour-based approaches without limiting the developer to mainly reactive systems.
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Paper Nr: 68
Title:

PASSIVITY-BASED NONLINEAR STABILIZING CONTROL FOR A MOBILE INVERTED PENDULUM
Authors:

Kazuto Yokoyama and Masaki Takahashi
Abstract: Mobile inverted pendulums (MIPs) need to be stabilized at all times using a reliable control method. Previous studies were based on a linearized model or feedback linearization. In this study, interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control (IDA-PBC) is applied. The IDA-PBC is a nonlinear control method which has been shown to be powerful in stabilizing underactuated mechanical systems. Although partial differential equations (PDEs) must be solved to derive the IDA-PBC controller and this is a difficult task in general, we show that the IDA-PBC controller for the MIP can be derived solving the PDEs. We also formulate conditions which must be satisfied to guarantee asymptotic stability and show a procedure to estimate the domain of attraction. Simulation results indicate that the IDA-PBC controller achieves fast performance theoretically ensuring a large domain of attraction. We also verify its effectiveness in experiments. In particular control performance under an impulsive disturbance to the MIP are verified. The IDA-PBC achieves as fast transient performance as a linear-quadratic regulator (LQR). In addition, we show that even when the pendulum declines quickly and largely because of the disturbance, the IDA-PBC controller is able to stabilize it whereas the LQR can not.
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Paper Nr: 75
Title:

LEADER FOLLOWING FORMATION CONTROL FOR OMNIDIRECTIONAL MOBILE ROBOTS - The Target Chasing Problem
Authors:

Tiago Pereira do Nascimento, Fernando A. Fontes, António Paulo Moreira and André Gustavo Scolari Conceição
Abstract: This paper describes a novel approach in formation control for mobile robots. Here, a Nonlinear Model Predictive Controller (NMPC) is used to maintain the formation of three omnidirectional mobile robots. The details of the controller structure are presented as well as its functionality in a soccer robot team. Three Middle Size League Robots are used for evaluation. A case of study based in a soccer robot situation is presented, developed, and implemented to evaluate the performance of the controller. Simulations results are presented and discussed.
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Paper Nr: 84
Title:

BUILDING VISUAL MAPS WITH A SINGLE OMNIDIRECTIONAL CAMERA
Authors:

Arturo Gil, David Valiente, Oscar Reinoso, Lorenzo Fernández and J. M. Marín
Abstract: This paper describes an approach to the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) problem using a single omnidirectional camera. We consider that the robot is equipped with a catadioptric sensor and is able to extract interest points from the images. In the approach, the map is represented by a set of omnidirectional images and their positions. Each omnidirectional image has a set of interest points and visual descriptors associated to it. When the robot captures an omnidirectional image it extracts interest points and finds correspondences with the omnidirectional images stored in the map. If a sufficient number of points are matched, a translation and rotation can be computed between the images, thus allowing the localization of the robot with respect to the images in the map. Typically, visual SLAMapproaches concentrate on the estimation of a set of visual landmarks, each one defined by a 3D position and a visual descriptor. In contrast with these approaches, the solution presented here simplifies the computation of the map and allows for a compact representation of the environment. We present results obtained in a simulated environment that validate the SLAM approach. In addition, we present results obtained using real data that demonstrate the validity of the proposed solution.
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Paper Nr: 110
Title:

TOWARDS A FLEXIBLE TRANSPORTATION IN DISTRIBUTION CENTERS - Low-level Motion Control Approach
Authors:

Sisdarmanto Adinandra, Dragan Kostic, Jurjen Caarls and Hendrik Nijmeijer
Abstract: In recent years autonomous mobile robots (AMR) have emerged as a means of transportation in distribution centers. The complexity of transportation tasks requires efficient high-level control planning and task scheduling, as well as low-level motion control of the robots such that a more flexible, and robust transport system can be achieved. In this work we present a methodology to achieve coordination of a group of mobile robots so that the objectives are met, focusing on low-level control approach. We use a reactive-to-dynamic-change control concept. We consider an automated distribution center in a simulation case study. The transportation is evaluated in terms of completion time and robustness to fault. In addition, the control strategies are validated in a mock-up version of the automated distribution center.
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Paper Nr: 112
Title:

VISUAL SERVOING OF A MULTI-ROBOTIC SYSTEM FOR MANIPULATION TASKS
Authors:

J. Pomares, F. A. Candelas, C. Jara, G. J. García, I. Perea and F. Torres
Abstract: This paper describes the visual servo control of a multi-robot system composed of a Mitsubishi PA10 robot (main robot) and a 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) mini-robot coupled to the main robot. The visual system composed of a single camera is located at the end-effector of the mini-robot. The acquired images are employed to guide the mini-robot in order to improve the scene visibility. Furthermore, these images are also used to guide the main robot. The paper also describes the main issues about the modelling and construction of the mini-robot.
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Paper Nr: 115
Title:

PERFORMANCE VERIFICATION OF THE HEAD/EYE INTEGRATED TRACKER
Authors:

Jeong-ho Kim, Dae-woo Lee, Se-jong Heo, Chan-gook Park, Kwang-yul Baek and Hyo-choong Bang
Abstract: This paper describes the development of an integrated head/eye tracker system. To obtain the position and attitude of a head, the sensor-fusion head tracker is used. The head tracker combines the result of the vision-based tracking and the IMU to increase the tracking accuracy. Five sets of IR LEDs are installed on the surface of a helmet, and the IMU is installed inside the helmet; each set of LEDs comprises three LEDs positioned at the vertices of a triangle. IR LEDs are used on the eye-tracker system since they are more suitable than visible LEDs for cognizing the pupil. For the precise tracking of the pupil, three methods—intensity-based detection method, shape-based detection method, and sequential mean-shift method—are used. The gaze vector is calculated by using the obtained position of the pupil, focal length, and gaze-point equation. Finally, we verify whether this integrated system can be used in practical military equipment.
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Paper Nr: 118
Title:

MULTI-CUE BASED CROWD SEGMENTATION
Authors:

Ya-Li Hou and Grantham K. H. Pang
Abstract: With a rough foreground region, crowd segmentation is an efficient way for human detection in dense scenarios. However, most previous work on crowd segmentation considers shape and motion cues independently. In this paper, a method to use both shape and motion cues simultaneously for crowd segmentation in dense scenarios is introduced. Some results have been shown to illustrate the improvements when multi-cue is considered. The contribution of the paper is two-fold. First, coherent motion in each individual is combined with shape cues to help segment the foreground area into individuals. Secondly, the rigid body motion in human upper-parts is observed and also used for more accurate human detection.
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Paper Nr: 126
Title:

PATH OPTIMIZATION FOR HUMANOID WALK PLANNING - An Efficient Approach
Authors:

Antonio El Khoury, Michel Taïx and Florent Lamiraux
Abstract: This paper deals with humanoid walk planning in cluttered environments. It presents a heuristic and efficient optimization method that takes as input a path computed for the robot bounding box, and produces a path where a discrete set of configurations is reoriented using an A* search algorithm. The resulting trajectory is realistic and time-optimal. This method is validated in various scenarios on the humanoid robot HRP-2.
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Paper Nr: 128
Title:

HUMANOID ROBOT - Modular-Joint Design of a TPINOKIO Bipedal Robot
Authors:

Teck-Chew Wee, A. Astolfi and Ming-Xie .
Abstract: This paper presents the work done in the modular-joint design of a teen-size bipedal humanoid robot. Due to this modular-joint design approach, the robot is able to be modelled as a point-mass system without considering its links’ inertia, this is a novelty approach to improve the kinematics and dynamic modelling of the robot, for test-bedding and simulation of various control algorithms. The robot is a cost effective platform which is suitable for both edutainment and engineering research purposes. The TPinokio humanoid robot has a height of around 1.5 meter, and weight around 58 kg. This paper is focused mainly on the robot’s mechanical structure and electronics design. The robot’s kinematics with point-mass distribution characteristics and it’s control approach are briefly discussed.
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Paper Nr: 137
Title:

WAYPOINT GUIDANCE BASED PLANAR PATH FOLLOWING AND OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE OF AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE
Authors:

Saravanakumar S. and Asokan T.
Abstract: This paper presents waypoint guidance based planar path following and obstacle avoidance for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). Guidance through waypoints by line-of-sight (LOS) method and artificial potential field method (APFM) are used to develop the algorithm. Both LOS and PFM are simple and computationally inexpensive and can be used for real-time implementation. The basic LOS method has been modified for reference heading correction with a distance threshold in order to achieve minimal calculation for heading correction and smoother vehicle turn during course change at waypoints. An improved potential field method is also proposed for better obstacle avoidance for the AUV. Few points are taken from the path generated by the waypoint guidance and given as via points for the obstacle avoidance algorithm. The proposed algorithm basically follows the improved LOS method when there is no obstacle along the vehicle’s path and switches to APFM when any obstacle is detected. The details of the algorithm and simulation results are presented.
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Paper Nr: 142
Title:

FINDING THE BEST GRASPING POINT IN OBJECT MANIPULATION TASKS - A Comparison between GA and PSO Methods
Authors:

Hamed Mesgari, Farzad Cheraghpour and S. Ali A. Moosavian
Abstract: Grasp planning is one of the most interesting subjects of object manipulation tasks in robotics and the development of grasp methods would be affected the robot performance. One of the most important subjects which is discussed in grasp planning, especially in industrial applications, is optimal grasp planning and finding the best grasping point. So it is important to find the best grasping point that the manipulator contact with object. In this paper, the MAG performance index, which is designed for object manipulation tasks, would be used for two different types of objects which are manipulated in the predefined path. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) methods would be used to maximize this index and find the best grasping point and finally compared with each other. The results show that in faster object manipulation tasks, the GA method is more suitable than PSO method. Since in accurate object manipulation tasks, the PSO method is preferred to GA method.
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Paper Nr: 156
Title:

APPEARANCE-BASED VISUAL ODOMETRY WITH OMNIDIRECTIONAL IMAGES - A Practical Application to Topological Mapping
Authors:

Lorenzo Fernández, Luis Payá, Oscar Reinoso and Francisco Amorós
Abstract: In this paper we deal with the problem of map creation and localization of a mobile robot using omnidirectional images. We describe a real-time algorithm for topological mapping, using as input data only a set of images captured by a single omnidirectional camera mounted at a fixed position on the mobile robot. To compute the topological relationships between locations in the map, we use techniques based in the global appearance of the images. When using these methods, it is important to remove redundant information to get an acceptable computational cost when comparing locations. With this aim, we describe each omnidirectional image by a single Fourier descriptor that represents the appearance as well as the relative orientation between images. This algorithm permits computing the relative topological position of a location with respect to the previous one, acting as a visual compass. We have carried out a complete set of experiments to study the validity of the proposed visual odometry and topological mapping and to perform an objective comparison between the results obtained using the robot odometry, our visual odometry and the ground truth. We have also checked the time consumption to carry out the process and the geometrical accuracy obtained comparing to the ground truth.
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Paper Nr: 158
Title:

COMPARING DETERMINIST AND PROBABILISTIC METHODS FOR RFID-BASED SELF-LOCALIZATION AND MAPPING
Authors:

Younes Raoui, Michel Devy, El Houssine Bouyakhf and Fakhita Regragui
Abstract: This article deals with Simultaneous Localization andMapping for an indoor robot equipped with a camera and RFID antennas. RFID tags are sparsely disseminated in the environment. First RFID-based self-localization is considered; the robot position is predicted from odometry; it is corrected first by a sequential Monte-Carlo localization based on a particle filter. An active strategy built on the theoretical basis of information entropy is applied in order to improve the position accuracy. Then two methods for RFID-based mapping are described, considering the robot pose is given from natural visual landmarks learnt by a classical visual SLAM function.
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Paper Nr: 159
Title:

ONTOLOGY-BASED TEST DATA GENERATION USING METAHEURISTICS
Authors:

Zoltán Szatmári, János Oláh and István Majzik
Abstract: Software testing is an expensive, yet essential stage in all software development models, thus there is a great effort from the research community to facilitate or even automate this step. Although much of the testing process is automated by modern software development environments (e.g., test execution, monitoring), the selection of test data remains generally a manual process. In this paper we present a novel approach for test data generation in case of testing data dependent behaviour of autonomous software agents. The proposed method uses the metamodel of the agent’s environment derived from the context ontology, and utilizes the input specifications to formulate the goal of testing. Our approach suggests the use of metaheuristic search techniques for the generation of optimal test data, usually referred to as search-based software test data generation.
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Paper Nr: 193
Title:

VISUAL OUTDOOR PATH PLANNER FOR ORANGE GROVES BASED ON ENSEMBLES OF NEURAL NETWORKS
Authors:

Joaquín Torres-Sospedra and Patricio Nebot
Abstract: One of the most important system to deploy for a robot navigating in an outdoor scenario, as can be an orange grove, is the navigation system. In this paper, a path planner in orange groves for an autonomous robotic system is presented. This path planner is based on a previous classification of the image that the robot gets from its visual sensory system. One of the most important technique used to generate accurate classifiers is based on training an ensemble of neural networks. Here, a simple ensemble of neural networks is used to classify images from an orange grove using wavelets features. With the classification image obtained, the most important lines of the land are extracted with the Hough transform. The final path line is determined with these lines. The purpose of this paper is to determine if the ensemble approach can be useful in the procedure to design an accurate path planner for outdoor autonomous robots in orange groves. The published results show that ensembles can be considered for this type of applications.
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Paper Nr: 198
Title:

MODELING AND SIMULATING A NARROW TILTING CAR
Authors:

Salim Maakaroun, Wisama Khalil, Maxime Gautier and Philippe Chevrel
Abstract: The use of an electrical narrow tilting car instead of a large gasoline car should significantly decrease traffic congestion, pollution and parking problem. The aim of this paper is to give an approach to develop a dynamic model for narrow cars. This model can be used to simulate their behaviours and evaluate tilt control systems. The approach is based on considering the vehicle as a multi-body poly-articulated system and the modelling is carried out using the robotics formalism based on the modified Denavit-Hartenberg geometric description.
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Paper Nr: 199
Title:

MULTI-ROBOT COVERAGE WITH DYNAMIC COVERAGE INFORMATION COMPRESSION
Authors:

Zachary Wilson, Taylor Whipple and Prithviraj Dasgupta
Abstract: We consider the problem of distributed terrain or area coverage of an initially unknown environment using a set of mobile robots. We describe a distributed algorithm that is able to solve the distributed coverage problem without having each robot exchange its complete coverage map with other robots. The central part of our technique is a compression algorithm used by a robot to approximate the regions that have been previously covered and a fitness function that calculates the degree of accuracy of the approximated coverage information. The operation of our coverage algorithm is evaluated through experiments on simulated as well as physical Corobot robots. We have quantified the extent of overhead introduced by our coverage algorithm to prevent robots from performing repeated coverage. Overall, our results show that the robots are able to cover the environment within different environment settings while significantly reducing the amount of coverage information communicated between different robots.
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Paper Nr: 209
Title:

MICRO/NANO-MANIPULATORS WITH STRUCTURED PIEZO CERAMIC ACTUATORS
Authors:

R. Kasper, M. Al-Wahab, K. Kostadinov and T. Tiankov
Abstract: This paper presents an investigation and development of mechatronic handling devices (MHD) based on a structured piezo ceramic with (3, 1)-piezoelectric effect for manipulation and processing of micro/nano operations. Following the synthesis of kinematic structure for micro- and nano-manipulation tasks based on structured piezo ceramics and closed kinematic structures, a specific multilayer design of piezo actuated MHD for micro-and nano-operations was developed. The MHD was mathematically modelled and a FE–model was created and simulated with the program system ANSYS. Comparison study of the MHD prototypes was performed using obtained experimental results. An experimental set up was created that aimed to verify the mathematical and simulation models measuring system behaviour like force, displacement and stiffness.
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Paper Nr: 236
Title:

REAL-TIME ELLIPSE FITTING, 3D SPHERICAL OBJECT LOCALIZATION, AND TRACKING FOR THE ICUB SIMULATOR
Authors:

Nicola Greggio, Alexandre Bernardino, Cecilia Laschi, Paolo Dario and José Santos-Victor
Abstract: This paper presents the implementation of real-time tracking algorithm for following and evaluating the 3D position of a generic spatial object. The key issue of our approach is the development of a new algorithm for pattern recognition in machine vision, the Least Constrained Square-Fitting of Ellipses (LCSE), which improves the state of the art ellipse fitting procedures. It is a robust and direct method for the least-square fitting of ellipses to scattered data. Although it has been ellipse-specifically developed, our algorithm demonstrates to be well suitable for the real-time tracking any spherical object, and it presents also robustness against noise. In this work we applied it to the RobotCub humanoid robotics platform simulator. We compared its performance with the Hough Transform and with its original formulation, made by Fitzgibbon et Al. in 1999, in terms of robustness (success/failure in the object detection) and fitting precision. We performed several tests to prove the robustness of the algorithm within the overall system. Finally we present our results.
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Paper Nr: 258
Title:

THE CONFORMAL CAMERA IN MODELING VISUAL INFORMATION DURING EYES MOVEMENTS
Authors:

Jacek Turski
Abstract: The conformal camera and its related projective Fourier transform that provide image representation well adapted to projective transformations and retinotopic mappings of the brain visual pathways are reviewed. The conformal camera’s non-Euclidean geometry effectiveness in intermediate-level vision is discussed, the algorithmic steps in modeling visual information during saccadic eye movements are outlined, and the research-in-progress on modeling perception during pursuit eye movements is described. It is concluded that the conformal camera may provide a computational framework needed for developing tools for processing visual information during the exploratory movements of the camera with a silicon retina, used in autonomous mobile robots.
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Paper Nr: 274
Title:

3D PROBRABILISTIC OCCUPANCY GRID TO ROBOTIC MAPPING
Authors:

Anderson Souza and Luiz Gonçalves
Abstract: The use of camera to acquire useful visual information for the navigation of mobile robots is increasingly frequent. The images are rich sources of information about the scenario around a robot. This enables the extraction of maps that are of paramount importance in the process of autonomous navigation. This paper proposes a method of constructing a occupancy grid map through a system of low-cost stereo vision, through which a robot can detect obstacles and free regions, enabling autonomous navigation.
Paper Nr: 14
Title:

DESIGN OF INCORPORATED MACRO-MICRO ROBOTS FOR MACRO AND MICRO OPERATIONS
Authors:

Vladimir Kotev, Kostadin Kostadinov and Penka Genova
Abstract: Robots with cooperated regional macro-structures and local micro-structures are implemented in cell injection systems, production and control of micro-chips as well as other micro and nano technological operations. A structure for hybrid macro-micro robot with closed kinematic chains with piezo-actuator links is proposed. An approach for the synthesis of linkage manipulating mechanisms with two DoF is developed applying the method of Infinitesimally Close Positions. This approach allows for the synthesis of mechanisms that perform rectilinear trajectory within a specified section. The rectilinear trajectory may be obtained by controlling the actuators, but in the presence of accelerations which would decrease the precision of the trajectory.
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Paper Nr: 25
Title:

A SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT CONTROL ARCHITECTURE FOR WALKING ROBOTS - Application to AMRU5
Authors:

Q. Bombled, O. Verlinden, M. Bagein and P. Manneback
Abstract: A decentralized control architecture has been developed on the walking machine AMRU5. The vehicle is actuated by 18 DC motors, which have to be highly synchronized to produce a smooth motion of the robot body. Each leg has 3 motors driven by a microcontroller. The six microcontrollers communicate with a PC running real-time Linux which manages the feet motion generation to produce the desired gait. The complete control chain has been developed using standard freely available C tools.
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Paper Nr: 57
Title:

BACKGROUND SUBTRACTION USING BELIEF PROPAGATION
Authors:

Hee-il Hahn
Abstract: It is challenging to detect foreground objects when background includes an illumination variation, shadow or structural variation due to their motion. Basically pixel-based background models suffer from statistical randomness of each pixel. This paper proposes an algorithm that incorporates Markov random field(MRF) model into pixel-based background modelling to achieve more accurate foreground detection. Under the assumptions the distance between the pixel on the input image and the corresponding background model and the difference between the scene estimates of the spatio-temporally neighboring pixels are exponentially distributed, a recursive approach for estimating the MRF regularizing parameters is proposed. The proposed method alternates between estimating the parameters with the intermediate foreground detection results and detecting the foreground with the estimated parameters, after computing them with the detection results of the pixel-based background subtraction. Extensive experiment is conducted with several videos recorded both indoors and outdoors to compare the proposed method with the codebook-based algorithm.
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Paper Nr: 86
Title:

VERTICAL MOVEMENT CONTROL OF QUAD-THRUST AERIAL ROBOT - Design, Analysis and Experimental Validation
Authors:

Roman Czyba and Grzegorz Szafranski
Abstract: In this paper we focus on the problem of the vertical movement control and approach to control algorithm implementation for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), known as a quadrotor. The most important control subsystems for the VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) are the attitude stabilization and the altitude regulation. Both systems are presented in this paper. However, the vertical movement of the platform has been confined to precise operations such as taking-off and landing. These actions demand high reliability and they are very crucial for autonomous flights. The design, analysis and the validation tests have been undertaken on the experimental aerial platform.
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Paper Nr: 130
Title:

MODELING AND SIMULATION OF IEC 61850 REQUIREMENTS APPLIED TO AN AUTOMATED PEOPLE MOVER’S CONTROLLER
Authors:

Guilherme Kunz, José Machado and Eduardo Perondi
Abstract: Automated People Movers (APM) are systems for passenger transport with fully automated operation and high frequency service. For this study, we proposed the adaptation of the standard IEC 61850 (design to be used in electric power systems based in intelligent electronic devices) to allow its application to an APM system named Aeromovel installed in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Aeromovel is a nonconventional Automatic People Mover whose operation principle is based on pneumatics. This paper proposes the use of two analysis techniques, Simulation and Formal Verification, in order to guarantee the desired behaviour for an APM propulsion system composed by a centrifugal fan and ten (on-off and proportional) pneumatic valves driven by pneumatic pistons. This approach is based on the use of timed automata and UPPAAL software.
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Paper Nr: 155
Title:

MOBILE ROBOT LOCALIZATION SCHEME BASED ON FUSION OF RFID AND VISUAL LANDMARKS
Authors:

Younes Raoui, El Houssine Bouyakhf and Michel Devy
Abstract: A key function required on an autonomous mobile robot is the ability to localize itself accurately. This paper reports an RFID and vision-based localization scheme, which uses new rotation and scale invariant features as natural landmarks in static environments. The invariance of these features to image translation, scaling and rotation makes them suitable landmarks for mobile robot localization. Our RFID-based localization method presented in (Duarte et al., 2010) is made active minimizing the information entropy and improving the positioning accuracy. Then methods based on the detection of a priori learnt RFID tags and visual landmarks are combined in order to make more robust the method.
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Paper Nr: 173
Title:

STRATEGY BASED ON MACHINE LEARNING FOR THE CONTROL OF A RIGID FORMATION IN A MULTI-ROBOTS FRAME
Authors:

Ting Wang, Christophe Sabourin and Kurosh Madani
Abstract: Many applications can benefit from multi-robot systems like warehouse management, industrial assembling, military applications, daily tasks. In this paper, we describe a new approach for the control of a formation of robots. In the proposed solution, we consider the formation as a single robot and our work focus on how to control the formation. We suppose there are virtual rigid links between all robots and all robots perform the same task in synchronous manner.
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Paper Nr: 194
Title:

REAL TIME UNILATERAL TELEOPERATION SYSTEM FOR ARM MOVEMENT PERFORMANCE
Authors:

S. T. Puente, F. Torres and F. Castelló
Abstract: This paper presents a solution in manipulating robotic arms. The solution follows the line drawn up by the human-robot interaction based on gestures. The movements of a human arm are captured, and a robotic arm reproduces the human movements in real time. The position of the joints of the arm are obtained by means of the motion capture suit GypsyGyro-18. These movements are treated by a controller and sent to the PA-10 robotic arm developed by Mitsubishi, which will execute them trying to diminish the difference of position between both arms. It has been necessary to implement a proportional controller that determines the reaction of the error.
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Paper Nr: 215
Title:

LINEAR COMPLEXITY STEREO CORRESPONDENCE - From Interpolation to Segment-based Approach
Authors:

Vilson Heck Junior and Marcelo Ricardo Stemmer
Abstract: This paper presents the work in progress on the enhancement of a stereo correspondence method based on linear complexity region indexing with an image segmentation method. Such improvement shows itself to achieve better results (compared to its predecessor) when evaluated on Middlebury Stereo Evaluation, keeping the computing complexity O(n) of the algorithmic solution. In spite of the better results, this method still need to solve some issues related to surfaces inclinations. The steps taken to create this improvement, some stereo correspondence results and evaluations are presented.
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Paper Nr: 219
Title:

WHEELED MOBILE MANIPULATOR MODELING FOR TASK SPACE CONTROL
Authors:

Gastón H. Salazar-Silva, Jaime Álvarez Gallegos and Marco A. Moreno-Armendáriz
Abstract: Mobile manipulators have attracted a lot attention lately because they have many advantages over stationary manipulator, such as larger a work space than a stationary manipulator could have in practice. However, the proposed methods in the state of the art to obtain the kinematic model of a mobile manipulator are based in modeling separately the mobile base and the manipulator arm, and later combining both models. This paper shows a systematic approach to obtain the kinematic model of mobile manipulators that transforms in the modeling problem of a stationary manipulator with non-holonomic kinematic constraints in the joints; it is also showed an example of the application of the method, where the kinematic and dynamic models are obtained with extensions of the same tools used in stationary robots.
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Paper Nr: 243
Title:

MULTI-VIEW 3D DATA ACQUISITION USING A SINGLE UNCODED LIGHT PATTERN
Authors:

Stefania Cristina, Kenneth P. Camilleri and Thomas Galea
Abstract: This research concerns the acquisition of 3-dimensional data from images for the purpose of modeling a person's head. This paper proposes an approach for acquiring the 3-dimensional reconstruction using a multiple stereo camera vision platform and a combination of passive and active lighting techniques. The proposed one-shot active lighting method projects a single, binary dot pattern, hence ensuring the suitability of the method to reconstruct dynamic scenes. Contrary to the conventional spatial neighborhood coding techniques, this approach matches corresponding spots between image pairs by exploiting solely the redundant data available in the multiple camera images. This produces an initial, sparse reconstruction, which is then used to guide a passive lighting technique to obtain a dense 3-dimensional representation of the object of interest. The results obtained reveal the robustness of the projected pattern and the spot matching algorithm, and a decrease in the number of false matches in the 3-dimensional dense reconstructions, particularly in smooth and textureless regions on the human face.
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Paper Nr: 253
Title:

COOPERATIVE MODELING AND DYNAMICS SIMULATION OF FLEXIBLE MULTI-BODY SYSTEM FOR PARALLEL ROBOT
Authors:

Yongxian Liu, Chunxia Zhu and Jinfu Zhao
Abstract: Based on the cooperative thought, a method of modeling and simulation of multi-flexible-body dynamics for a kind of mechanism is proposed in this paper. A multi-flexible-body dynamics simulation model of 3-TPT parallel robot is created, and its multi-body dynamics simulation is implemented by using the multi-body dynamics simulation software ADAMS and finite element analysis software ANSYS. For more accurate explanation of the analysis, simulation results of rigid body are compared with those of flexible body. The simulation results have shown that forces applied on flexible bodies are highly nonlinear because of the flexible characteristics, which is consistent with the reality. Compared with other simulation method, the simulation proposed of the multi-flexible body system are more authentic, nicety and can reflect actual dynamics characteristic of parallel robot with more accuracy. Therefore this is an effective method of analysis for design and optimization of parallel robot.
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Paper Nr: 260
Title:

DESIGN OF A ROBOT TEAM FOR SEARCH IN CENTRAL EUROPEAN FORESTS
Authors:

Santi Esteva, Antoni Martorano and Albert Figueras
Abstract: Security incidents are a new topic for the autonomous robot task. Robots, sensors and intelligence make a great combination to achieve specific goals in this area. This paper proposes a methodology to design the size and the exploration form for a group of robots in the typical Central European forest. The objective is to find victims hidden into the fallen leaves. A statistics of the trouble situations is the starting point to design the team to displace at the objective. The robots are autonomous but is necessary one human supervisor to solve some critical situations. The results show the partition and the area covered by a simple group of equal robots.
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Paper Nr: 268
Title:

A HYBRID LEARNING SYSTEM FOR OBJECT RECOGNITION
Authors:

Klaus Häming and Gabriele Peters
Abstract: We propose a hybrid learning system which combines two different theories of learning, namely implicit and explicit learning. They are realized by the machine learning methods of reinforcement learning and belief revision, respectively. The resulting system can be regarded as an autonomous agent which is able to learn from past experiences as well as to acquire new knowledge from its environment. We apply this agent in an object recognition task, where it learns how to recognize a 3D object despite the fact that a very similar, alternative object exists. The agent scans the viewing sphere of an object and learns how to access such a view that allows for the discrimination. We present first experiments which indicate the general applicability of the proposed hybrid learning scheme to this object recognition tasks.
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Paper Nr: 275
Title:

IRIS IMAGE SEGMENTATION BASED ON INDUSTRIAL VISION TOOLS
Authors:

Silvia Anton and Florin Daniel Anton
Abstract: In the last few years biometric data acquisition and processing systems for person identity verification and / or identification started to be increasingly used. This is done both in military applications for person identification in military operations and war theatres, but also in civilian applications for personal identity verification, accounting systems, etc. Depending on the organization policy, such systems must be secured and customized, for application enhancement, and to fulfil the organization requirements. Such systems which allow customization and enhancement are not available for source code modification and feature enhancement. This paper presents a software image processing development environment IPDE based on vision tools, which is able to run vision projects but also allow the user to develop stand alone applications in a short amount of time, applications which are based on customized vision tools. The IPDE is used to exemplify the process of creating an iris recognition application where a set of vision tools were used in order develop a customized iris image segmentation routine. The paper is structured on three chapters presenting the IPDE architecture, the vision tools, the application development stages, and ends with some experimental data and conclusions.
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Paper Nr: 280
Title:

MULTIMODAL USER IDENTIFICATION FOR NETWORK-BASED INTELLIGENT ROBOTS
Authors:

Keun-Chang Kwak
Abstract: This paper is concerned with multimodal user identification based face and speaker recognition for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) under network-based intelligent robot environments. Face and speaker recognition are frequently used in conjunction with HRI that can naturally interact between human and robot. For this purpose, we present Tensor-based Multilinear Principal Component Analysis (TMPCA) and Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients-Gaussian Mixture Model (MFCC-GMM) to recognize with face images and speech signals obtained through network transmission, respectively. Furthermore, we investigate network-based multimodal user identification for the near future study. The experimental results on face and speaker database with distant-varying reveal that the presented method shows good performance in network-based intelligent robot environments.
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Paper Nr: 281
Title:

REMOTE HUMAN-ROBOT COOPERATION VIA INTERNET USING WEBOS-BASED TOUCH INTERFACE
Authors:

Igor Belousov
Abstract: We consider at this paper the complicated task when the robot manipulator is controlled remotely via the World Wide Web and has to catch the moving object. The robot working environment is non-structured and dynamic. Neither classical teleoperation nor pure robot programming could solve the task of grasping the moving object in such a case. We used the shared autonomy approach to implement the capture task. The operator plans the capture at high level, and the capture is implemented by the robot using vision system. Human-Robot Interface is based on HP webOS Open Mobile Platform using HP Pre or HP TouchPad (tablet computer) as the operator consoles. Using the touch-based control interface and real-time 3D models of the remote robot and working environment make the grasping operation effective, reliable and simple.
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Area 3 - Signal Processing, Sensors, Systems Modelling and Control

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 44
Title:

ANALYSIS AND COMPUTATION OF OPTIMAL BOUNDS OF BI-DIRECTIONAL FRAMES
Authors:

Xiaofang Chen, Cishen Zhang and Jingxin Zhang
Abstract: Frames are mathematical tools which can represent redundancies in many application problems. In the studies of frames, the frame bounds and frame bound ratio are very important indices characterizing the robustness and numerical performance of frame systems. In this paper, the frame bounds of a class of frame, which can be modeled by the bi-directional impulse response of linear time systems, are analyzed and computed. By using the state space approach, the tightest lower and upper frame bounds can be directly and efficiently computed.
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Paper Nr: 59
Title:

TERMINATION ANALYSIS OF SAFETY VERIFICATION FOR NON-LINEAR ROBUST HYBRID SYSTEMS
Authors:

Zhikun She
Abstract: Safety verification of hybrid systems is in general undecidable. Due to practical applications, it is sufficient to only consider robustly safe hybrid systems in which a slight perturbation is guaranteed to result in the same desired safety property. In this paper, we provide a constraint based abstraction refinement for safety verification of nonlinear hybrid systems and prove that this refinement procedure will terminate for robustly safe nonlinear hybrid systems.
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Paper Nr: 79
Title:

FORECAST ERROR REDUCTION BY PREPROCESSED HIGH-PERFORMANCE STRUCTURAL BREAK DETECTION
Authors:

Dirk Pauli, Jens Feller, Bernhard Mauersberg and Ingo J. Timm
Abstract: In this paper a new method for detecting multiple structural breaks, i.e. undesired changes of signal behavior, is presented and applied to real-world data. It will be shown how Chernoff Bounds can be used for highperformance hypothesis testing after preprocessing arbitrary time series to binary random variables using k-means-clustering. Theoretical results from part one of this paper have been applied to real-world time series from a pharmaceutical wholesaler and show striking improvement in terms of forecast error reduction, thereby greatly improving forecast quality. In order to test the effect of structural break detection on forecast quality, state of the art forecast algorithms have been applied to time series with and without previous application of structural break detection methods.
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Paper Nr: 114
Title:

HIGH-FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF PHASE-LOCKED LOOP AND PHASE DETECTOR CHARACTERISTIC COMPUTATION
Authors:

N. V. Kuznetsov, G. A. Leonov, P. Neittaanmäki, S. M. Seledzhi, M. V. Yuldashev and R. V. Yuldashev
Abstract: Problems of rigorous mathematical analysis of PLL are discussed. An analytical method for phase detector characteristics computation is suggested and new classes of phase detector characteristics are computed. Effective methods for nonlinear analysis of PLL are discussed.
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Paper Nr: 132
Title:

HIDDEN ATTRACTOR IN CHUA’S CIRCUITS
Authors:

N. V. Kuznetsov, O. A. Kuznetsova, G. A. Leonov and V. I. Vagaytsev
Abstract: Notion of hidden attractor (basin does not contain neighborhoods of equilibria) is discussed. Effective analytical-numerical procedure for hidden attractors localization is considered. Existence of hidden attractor in Chua’s circuits is demonstrated.
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Paper Nr: 154
Title:

ADAPTIVE CONTINUOUS HIERARCHICAL MODEL-BASED DECISION MAKING - For Process Modelling with Realistic Requirements
Authors:

Kamil Dedecius and Pavel Ettler
Abstract: Industrial model-based control often relies on parametric models. However, for certain operational conditions either the precise underlying physical model is not available or the lack of relevant or reliable data prevents its use. A popular approach is to employ the black box or grey box models, releasing the theoretical rigor. This leads to several candidate models being at disposal, from which the (often subjectively) prominent one is selected. However, in the presence of model uncertainty, we propose to benefit from a subset of credible models. The idea behind the multimodelling approach is closely related to hierarchical modelling methodology. By using several modelling levels, it is possible to achieve relatively high quality and robust solution, providing a way around typical constraints in industrial applications.
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Paper Nr: 160
Title:

ROBUSTIFIED CONTROL OF A MULTIVARIABLE ROBOT
Authors:

Emanuel Dogaru, Cristina Stoica and Emmanuel Godoy
Abstract: This paper presents the application of several advanced control techniques to a nonlinear strongly coupled multivariable robot. The main difficulties come from the flexibility of the mechanical chain, but also from the lack of joints sensors. In a first stage, a state-feedback linear quadratic (LQG) technique and a model predictive control (MPC) are designed using optimal observers. Considering additional sensors that provide measurements of accelerations increases the robustness of the controlled system. The second stage consists into adding a supplementary robustness layer (i.e. explicitly considering the robust stability under unstructured uncertainties) on the stabilizing MPC developed at the previous stage. Comparative results are proposed highlighting the trade-off between robust stability and nominal performance for disturbances rejection.
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Paper Nr: 170
Title:

ON MAXIMAL ROBUSTLY POSITIVELY INVARIANT SETS
Authors:

Hoai Nam Nguyen, Sorin Olaru and Florin Stoican
Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of computing maximal robustly positively invariant sets for discrete-time linear time-invariant systems with disturbance inputs. It is assumed that the disturbance is unknown, additive, but bounded. The main contribution is the determination of bound of the number of steps in the iterative construction of the maximal invariant sets.
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Paper Nr: 179
Title:

LINEAR MODEL FOR CANAL POOLS
Authors:

João Miguel Lemos Chasqueira Nabais and Miguel Ayala Botto
Abstract: Water is vital for human life.Water is used widespread from agricultural to industrial as well as simple domestic activities. Mostly due to the increase on world population, water is becoming a sparse and valuable resource, pushing a high demand on the design of efficient engineering water distribution control systems. This paper presents a simple yet sufficiently rich and flexible solution to model open-channels. The hydraulic model is based on the Saint-Venant equations which are then linearized and transformed into a state space dynamic model. The resulting model is shown to be able to incorporate different boundary conditions like discharge, water depth or hydraulic structure dynamics, features that are commonly present on any water distribution system. Besides, due its computational simplicity and efficient monitoring capacity, the resulting hydraulic model is easily integrated into safety and fault tolerant control strategies. In this paper the hydraulic model is successfully validated using experimental data from a water canal setup.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 48
Title:

OBSERVER-BASED ADAPTIVE SLIDING MODE CONTROL FOR UNCERTAIN SYSTEMS WITH DEAD-ZONE INPUT
Authors:

Yu-Ting Kuo and Kuo-Ming Chang
Abstract: In this paper, an adaptive sliding mode control is proposed to address the tracking control objective of uncertain nonlinear system preceded by an unknown dead-zone and with unmeasurable system state. Based on the extension state observer, sliding mode control, and adaptive dead-zone inverse techniques, a robust observer-based adaptive sliding mode control scheme is developed without available system state. The proposed control scheme can ensure global stability of the controlled system subject to unknown nonlinear function and external disturbance and achieve the tracking control objective satisfactorily.
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Paper Nr: 80
Title:

MODELING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL OF A WATER RECOVERY AND IRRIGATION SYSTEM
Authors:

Mohamed Abdelati, Felix Felgner and Georg Frey
Abstract: For the modeling and simulation of large water recovery and irrigation systems, standard component models as found in simulation tool libraries are too complex. In this work, simple models are derived and applied for the modeling and simulation of a real system. In this system, water for irrigation will be collected by recovery wells around the wastewater treatment plant infiltration basins located in northern Gaza. There will be 27 recovery wells to collect the water in a reservoir before being distributed for irrigation via 10 booster pumps. During summer time, the system is expected to recover and distribute about 50885 m3 daily. The model derived in this paper using Modelica helps better understanding the system dynamics and provides a tool for evaluating the performance of possible control schemes.
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Paper Nr: 106
Title:

GAIN-SCHEDULED PID FOR IMBALANCE COMPENSATION OF A MAGNETIC BEARING
Authors:

Laleh Hosseini-Ravanbod and Dominikus Noll
Abstract: Control of a magnetic bearing device is addressed by parameter varying control. Within the structure of decentralized PID controllers we compare linear interpolation and switching strategies with and without hysteresis. Piecewise LPV decentralized PID controllers are found to be an interesting alternative. Our method exploits the possibility to pre-compute for every parameter value an H∞ optimal decentralized PID controller, and to use this ideal model to construct practical scheduled controllers with an acceptable H∞ performance.
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Paper Nr: 107
Title:

ROBUST SIMPLE ADAPTIVE H8 MODEL FOLLOWING CONTROL DESIGN BY LMIS
Authors:

R. Ben Yamin, I. Yaesh and U. Shaked
Abstract: An output-feedback direct adaptive control problem is considered for MIMO linear systems with polytopictype parameter uncertainties and disturbances. The objective is to make the system output follow the output of a system model and to attain guaranteed H¥ performance of the proposed adaptive control scheme. Sufficient conditions for closed-loop stability, model following performance, and achieving a prescribed bound on the H¥ disturbance attenuation level are derived, in terms of linear matrix inequalities. A numerical example, taken from the field of flight control, demonstrates the proposed method.
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Paper Nr: 175
Title:

ON THE LIMIT BEHAVIOR OF MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS
Authors:

Ionela Prodan, Sorin Olaru, Cristina Stoica and Silviu-Iulian Niculescu
Abstract: This paper addresses the optimal control of multiple (linear) agents in the presence of a set of adversary constraints which makes the convergence towards the ”zero” relative position an infeasible task. By consequence, this fixed point of the relative dynamics is replaced by a set of fixed points with different basin of attraction or even by limit cycles. The present analysis is based on the existence of an optimum control law over a receding horizon with one step ahead constraint. The feasible explicit solution in terms of a piecewise affine control law is analyzed in order to characterize the limit behavior of an agent.
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Paper Nr: 187
Title:

EFFICIENT RECONSTRUCTION OF UNIFORM SAMPLES FROM BUNCHED NONUNIFORM SAMPLES
Authors:

V. Harish, K. M. M. Prabhu and Piet Sommen
Abstract: In this paper, we derive a mathematically equivalent frequency-domain relation between uniform and bunched nonuniform samples. This relation aids in the reconstruction of uniform samples, obtained from nonuniform samples, using a uniform discrete Fourier transform (DFT) modulated filter bank. We consider a general case of unequal spacing between the bunches of nonuniform samples. Simulation results demonstrate the practical utility of the theory proposed.
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Paper Nr: 188
Title:

FURTHER REMARKS ON INVARIANCE PROPERTIES OF TIME-DELAY AND SWITCHING SYSTEMS
Authors:

Nikola Stanković, Sorin Olaru and Silviu-Iulian Niculescu
Abstract: The present paper deals with correlation in the context of mRPI sets between discrete linear systems affected by time delay and switching systems. Existence and uniqueness of mRPI set for both systems are studied. One of the possible construction procedures of invariant approximations of mRPI set is also outlined. In order to keep this exposure as coherent as possible, all results are firstly consider separately for both cases. Special attention is put on the link between obtained results. An illustrative example is provided at the end.
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Paper Nr: 206
Title:

ANOMALY DETECTION IN PRODUCTION PLANTS USING TIMED AUTOMATA - Automated Learning of Models from Observations
Authors:

Alexander Maier, Oliver Niggemann, Roman Just, Michael Jäger and Asmir Vodenčarević
Abstract: Model-based approaches are used for testing and diagnosis of automation systems (e.g. (Struss and Ertl, 2009)). Usually the models are created manually by experts. This is a troublesome and protracted procedure. In this paper we present an approach to overcome these problems: Models are not created manually but learned automatically by observing the plant behavior. This approach is divided into two steps: First we learn the topology of automation components, the signals and logical submodules and the knowledge about parallel components. In a second step, a behavior model is learned for each component. Later on, anomalies are detected by comparing the observed system behavior with the behavior predicted by the learned model.
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Paper Nr: 240
Title:

ATMOSPHERE CONTROL BY CHEMORESISTIVE POLYMER COMPOSITES
Authors:

Gita Sakale, Maris Knite, Marika Novada, Elina Liepa, Santa Stepina and Velta Tupureina
Abstract: This work reports about polymer-nanostructured carbon composite (PNCC) and it possible application for relative humidity registration and volatile organic compound (VOC) detection in the air. PNCC have been produced using high structured carbon black (HSCB) nanoparticles and polyisoprene (PI), ethylene-vinylacetate (EVA) copolymer, polyvinylacetate (PVAc), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylalcohol (PVA). Matrix material for composite production has been selected with respect to desired analyte to bee tested. Composites show selective response to particular species of analytes vapour. It has been found that humidity sensing mechanism changes from proton conductivity to electron tunnelling by addition of HSCB to PVA matrix. Plasticizer effect on PVAc-NCC ethanol vapour sensitivity has been evaluated.
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Paper Nr: 259
Title:

ACCUMULATING EVIDENCE BASED ON ESTIMATION THEORY AND HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY
Authors:

Michael E. Farmer
Abstract: The traditional D-S conditioning is based on a collection of ‘experts’ inputting their evidence and accumulating the beliefs. Researchers have often adopted this same mechanism for integrating evidence from single sources of evidence over time, such as seen in sensor networks. One issue with this approach is that the order of inputs does not matter. While this is sensible for a collection of experts we propose that it is not suitable for a single input providing streams of evidence. Likewise research in psychology show order of integration of evidence does matter, and depending on the application humans have a preference for recency or primacy. Estimation theory provides frameworks for analyzing data over time, and recently some researchers have proposed integrating evidence in an estimation-inspired manner. In light of this we propose a Kalman-filter based approach for integrating single sensor evidence over time where the evidence conflict plays the role of system noise in adapting the filter gain.
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Paper Nr: 264
Title:

SENSOR FAULT DETECTION IN A REAL HYDRAULIC SYSTEM USING A CLASSIFICATION APPROACH
Authors:

Oriane Le Pocher, Eric Duviella and Karine Chuquet
Abstract: This paper focuses on the sensor fault detection of a hydraulic channel used for navigation. This system has the particularities to have large scale dimension, without slope, with several inputs and ouputs, and thus difficult to be modelled according to classical modelling methods. For recent years, it was equipped with level sensors in order to have better knowwledge of its behavior, to detect its state online and thus improve its management. However, level sensors are subjected to measurement or transmission errors, setting errors, and quick or slow drifts. In order to detect these sensor errors, a classification approach is proposed. It appears adapted to the fault detection of large scale hydraulic systems without model. The classification approach is used on data measured from 2006 to 2009. The first results and analysis show that the classification method is effective for addressing the problem of sensor fault detection.
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Paper Nr: 265
Title:

OPTIMIZED STRATEGIES FOR ARCHIVING MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PROCESS DATA - Building a Fault-diagnosis Database
Authors:

Sebastian Feller, Yavor Todorov, Dirk Pauli and Folker Beck
Abstract: In many real-world applications such as condition monitoring of technical facilities or vehicles the amount of data to process and analyze has steadily increased during the last decades. In this paper a novel approach to data compression is presented, namely the multivariate representative of the Perceptually Important Points algorithm. Furthermore, approaches are given on how multivariate data should be dealt with to preserve all relevant multivariate information during a lossy data compression. This involves an extensive analysis of the stochastic dependencies of the process data. On the one hand the presented algorithm is able to compress the multivariate time series and on the other hand the algorithm can be easily extended to reflect a model of the original time series. It is shown that suggested multivariate compression algorithm outperforms its univariate equivalent.
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Paper Nr: 29
Title:

GENERATING MULTIDIMENSIONAL RESPONSE SURFACES FROM PROCESS DATA - Finding Optimal Set Points for Machine Control
Authors:

Wolfgang Mergenthaler, Jens Feller, Bernhard Mauersberg and Roger Chevalier
Abstract: Technical processes, notably in the power transforming industries, generate a wealth of process data, commonly organized in a file with M records and 1 + n + m fields, i.e. a time stamp, followed by n independent and m dependent variables, summarized in the vectors x and y, respectively. Regardless of the availability of physical models it is interesting and often necessary to generate functional relationships between x and y from process data. The most prominent purpose is the optimization of certain performance indices under given constraints. This paper describes response surface estimation using Gaussian shapes along with finding optimal points on the surfaces to be used in machine control. The practical impact lies in the usability of this technique to increase machine efficiency on a broad industrial scale with its applications towards energy efficiency and climate protection.
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Paper Nr: 74
Title:

COMPREHENSIBLE MODEL OF AMPLITUDE NONLINEARITIES IN PIEZORESISTIVE-FORCE SENSORS
Authors:

L. Paredes-Madrid and P. Gonzalez de Santos
Abstract: This article upgrades the RC linear model presented for the piezoresistive-force sensors. Amplitude nonlinearity was found in sensors conductance, and a characteristic equation was formulated for modeling it. By using such equation, it is possible to determine sensor sensitivity for any driving voltage below 1V. This model considerable improves the plug-and-play capability of the sensor. However, sensor conductance is unsatisfactory modeled by such equation when the input voltage goes over 1V. We present an approach for such driving condition.
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Paper Nr: 119
Title:

AN APPROXIMATED EXPRESSION FOR THE CONVERGENCE TIME OF ADAPTIVE BLIND EQUALIZERS
Authors:

Monika Pinchas
Abstract: In this paper, closed-form approximated expressions are proposed for the convergence time (or number of iterations required for convergence) and for the Intersymbol Interference (ISI) as a function of time valid during the stages of the iterative deconvolution process. The new derivations are valid for the noiseless, real and two independent quadrature carrier case and for type of blind equalizers where the error that is fed into the adaptive mechanism which updates the equalizer’s taps can be expressed as a polynomial function of order three of the equalized output like in Godard’s algorithm. Up to now, the equalizer’s performance (convergence time and ISI as a function of time) could be obtained only via simulation when the channel coefficients were known. The new proposed expressions are based on the knowledge of the initial ISI and channel power (which is measurable) and eliminate the need to carry out any more the above mentioned simulation.
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Paper Nr: 129
Title:

SIGNAL PRE-PROCESSING SUBSYSTEM FOR THE PURPOSE OF INDUSTRIAL CONTROL
Authors:

Ivan Puchr and Pavel Herout
Abstract: Commonly used methods of signal processing are often too complex and many of them induce time delay between the original and processed signal. A problem arises how to supply the controller with quality input signals without substantial delay taking limited computing power of the controller's hardware into account. A possible solution based on a signal pre-processing subsystem (SPS) delivering quality input signals to the controller is described in this paper. Concept of the SPS is based on a hardware unit with a real-time operating system managing a composition of application tasks. Hardware and software structure of the SPS is composed to enable to utilize the following specific signal processing strategy. Different signal processing methods process a particular signal simultaneously and an algorithm of continuous decision making provides the momentary best possible result in the form of a weighted combination of outputs generated by single signal processing methods. Solution is intended for enhancement of the automatic thickness/gauge control (AGC) for cold rolling mills.
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Paper Nr: 133
Title:

FUEL METERING PUMP DEVELOPMENT AND MODELING
Authors:

Jiří Toman, Vladimír Hubík and Vladislav Singule
Abstract: This article would like to inform reader about the research and development steps and practices which were used during the development of a control system for a fuel metering pump. The aims of the development were to design a control system for a brushless DC (BLDC) motor in accordance with rigid aviation standards and to verify new development practices and tools allowing faster and much simpler final certification. The paper comprised definition of first requirements, preliminary hardware (HW) and software (SW) design, system modeling and simulation, system optimization, detailed design, verification and testing. In addition, the first results measured on an evaluation sample are presented.
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Paper Nr: 213
Title:

TRACKING CONTROL FOR TWO-DIMENSIONAL OVERHEAD CRANE - Feedback Linearization with Linear Observer
Authors:

Tamás Rózsa and Bálint Kiss
Abstract: A possible way to control non-linear systems is the use of exact linearization and the application of a tracking controller to ensure exponential decay of the error along the reference trajectory. In case of overhead cranes, it can be used if the load coordinates (or alternatively the rope angles) are known which is not the case in real applications, where the motor axis displacements are usually measured. This paper applies the linearization techniques such that the calculations of unmeasured states are realized with an observer, which is constructed for the linear approximation of the dynamics along the reference trajectory. Simulation results are provided to prove the applicability of the concept.
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Paper Nr: 214
Title:

VALIDATED MODEL OF A PRESSURE MICROPROBE FOR WATER RELATIONS OF PLANT CELLS
Authors:

Victor Bertucci-Neto and Paulo Estevão Cruvinel
Abstract: Turgor pressure is a physiologic variable of fundamental importance. It is a component of water potential and a measure of water status in a plant. For a long time direct measurement of turgor pressure was not possible. Three decades ago a pressure probe technique was originally introduced to measure turgor pressure and water relations of higher plant cells. Early experiments were made with a glass capillary linked to a pressure chamber, filled with silicone oil. After the vegetable cell to be punctured with the tip of the capillary, a sensor was used to measure the pressure in the chamber. From then until now the usual procedure has been to detect the meniscus position at the moment that the cell is punctured and manually, or automatically, to return the meniscus to the original position. When this occurs the pressure in the chamber is measured with a sensor. Some attempts were made to get the instrument automated but there is no systematic description about it. Based on this, it is proposed a dynamic model for the hydraulic system that can be helpful to design a closed loop system aiming an automated instrument. It is also shown that the theoretical model reasonably matches the experimental results.
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Paper Nr: 226
Title:

FAULT DETECTION BASED ON GAUSSIAN PROCESS MODELS - An Application to the Rolling Mill
Authors:

Dani Juricic, Pavel Ettler and Jus Kocijan
Abstract: In this paper a fault detection approach based on Gaussian process model is proposed. The problem we raise is how to deal with insufficiently validated models during surveillance of nonlinear plants given the fact that tentative model-plant miss-match in such a case can cause false alarms. To avoid the risk, a novel model validity index is suggested in order to quantify the level of confidence associated to the detection results. This index is based on estimated ‘distance’ between the current process data from data employed in the learning set. The effectiveness of the test is demonstrated on data records obtained from operating cold rolling mill.
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Paper Nr: 241
Title:

A WIDELY INFINITE PAST PREDICTION PROCEDURE
Authors:

Jesús Navarro-Moreno, Rosa M. Fernández-Alcalá, Juan C. Ruiz-Molina and Antonia Oya
Abstract: Using a widely linear (WL) processing, a prediction algorithm has been designed for WL transfer function models in terms of an infinite number of past observations. This algorithm leads to a suboptimum infinite past predictor which approximates the optimal predictor based on a finite past information when the size of the series goes to infinite. Hence, the applicability of our solution lies in those situations where the predictor based on a finite past is difficult to obtain.
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Area 4 - Industrial Engineering, Production and Management

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 111
Title:

NONPARAMETRIC VIRTUAL SENSORS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING - Using Information Theoretic Learning and Kernel Machines
Authors:

Andrea Schirru, Simone Pampuri, Cristina De Luca and Giuseppe De Nicolao
Abstract: In this paper, a novel learning methodology is presented and discussed with reference to the application of virtual sensors in the semiconductor manufacturing environment. Density estimation techniques are used jointly with Renyi’s entropy to define a loss function for the learning problem (relying on Information Theoretic Learning concepts). Furthermore, Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces (RKHS) theory is employed to handle nonlinearities and include regularization capabilities in the model. The proposed algorithm allows to estimate the structure of the predictive model, as well as the associated probabilistic uncertainty, in a nonparametric fashion. The methodology is then validated using simulation studies and process data from the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The proposed approach proves to be especially effective in strongly nongaussian environments and presents notable outlier filtering capabilities.
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Paper Nr: 191
Title:

AutomationML AS A BASIS FOR OFFLINE - AND REALTIME-SIMULATION - Planning, Simulation and Diagnosis of Automation Systems
Authors:

Olaf Graeser, Barath Kumar, Oliver Niggemann, Natalia Moriz and Alexander Maier
Abstract: The growing complexity of production plants leads to a growing complexity of the corresponding automation systems. Developers of such complex automation systems are faced with two significant challenges: (i) The control devices have to be tested before they are used in the plant. For this, offline- and hardware–in–the loop (HIL) simulations can be used. (ii) The diagnosis functions within the automation systems become more and more difficult to implement; this entails the risk of undetected errors. Both challenges may be solved using a system model, i.e. a joint model of the plant and the automation system: (i) Offline simulations and HIL tests use such models as an environment model and (ii) diagnosis functions use such models to define the normal system behaviour—allowing them to detect discrepancies between normal and observed behavior. System models cannot be modelled by one person in a single development step. Instead, such models must mirror the modularity of modern plants and automation systems. Here, the new standard AutomationML is used as basis for such a modular system model. But a modular system model is only a first step: Both testing and diagnosis require the simulation of such models. Therefore, a corresponding modular simulation system for AutomationML models is presented here; for this, the Functional Mock–Up Unit (FMU) standard is used. A prototypical tool chain and a model factory (MF) is used to show results for this modular testing and diagnosis approach.
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Paper Nr: 230
Title:

AN OPEN-LOOP SOLUTION FOR A STOCHASTIC PRODUCTION-REMANUFACTURING PLANNING PROBLEM
Authors:

Oscar Salviano Silva Filho
Abstract: A stochastic linear production planning problem with chance-constraints is introduced in order to provide a production plan that optimizes a reverse logistics system. Such a system is composed of two channels: in the forward channel, new and remanufactured products are produced and stored into a serviceable inventory unit. On the other hands, in the reverse channel, used and defected products are stored into the remanufacturable inventory unit. The uncertainties about the fluctuation of demand and the amount of returnable are the reason of the stochastic nature of the problem. Since global optimal solution is not easy to be achieved, an equivalent-deterministic suboptimal problem is proposed. An example of applicability of this deterministic problem is presented. In this example, two situations are proposed: the first considers that 50% of used-products are returnable; while the second considers 100%. It is assumed that 5% of new products are rejected during the quality inspection process. As a result, the example shows that, under certain circumstances, it is possible to improve the performance of the system by increasing the return rate for used-products.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 30
Title:

HYDRAULIC BALANCE IN SMART HOMES - Using The KNX-standard for Performing Balanced Heating Conditions in Dynamic Load Situations
Authors:

Danny Szendrei, Tobias Teich, Susan Franke and Markus Schrader
Abstract: Efficient and clean energy consumption is not only an essential request towards industrial economics. This request also refers towards the residential building sector. There, the major share of energy consumption is caused by house and facility heating. In Germany, most heating systems consist of double-pipe, hot water systems. Due to the lack of hydraulically balanced system conditions, a potential of up to 15% energy savings can be assumed. This paper addresses the use of KNX-technology (Smart Buildings) in residential buildings to ensure a dynamic adaption of hydraulic systems performance, in order to increase the heating systems efficiency. Therefor, a procedure of heating system segmentation into hydraulically independent units (meshes) is presented. This structure enables permanent control of adressable, net-based heating valve drivers in order to achieve balanced mass flow distribution over the whole facility. The dynamic hydraulic balance is achieved by positioning these valves according to heating loads, that are generated from the temperature settings in the corresponding rooms. The energetic advantages of single room heating control procedures, based on the application FacilityManager, is presented.
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Paper Nr: 52
Title:

DESIGN OF A FULLY AUTOMATED ROBOTIC SPOT-WELDING LINE
Authors:

M. Selim Akturk, Adnan Tula and Hakan Gultekin
Abstract: The mixed model assembly line design problem includes allocating operations to the stations in the robotic cell and satisfying the demand and cycle time within a desired interval for each model to be produced. We also ensure that assignability, precedence and tool life constraints are met. Each pair of spot welding tools can process a certain number of welds and must be replaced at the end of tool life. Tool replacement decisions not only affect the tooling cost, but also the production rate. Therefore, we determine the number of stations and allocate the operations into the stations in such a way that tool change periods coincide with the unavailability periods to eliminate tool change related line stoppages in a mixed model fully automated robotic assembly line. We provide a mathematical formulation of the problem, and propose a heuristic algorithm.
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Paper Nr: 135
Title:

DEVELOPMENT OF A SCHEDULING MODULE WITHIN AN INTEGRATED SOLUTION FOR THE EVALUATION OF PROCESS VARIANTS
Authors:

Tim Neumann, Daniel Kretz, Joerg Militzer and Tobias Teich
Abstract: The success or failure of small and medium sized enterprises (SME) is related to the handling of factors like individual customer demands, price pressure and the probability to deliver at the required date and time. Often such SME’s are on the market for single-part or small-series production and want to be supplier for larger companies. Therefore, the decision makers of their customers have to investigate potential suppliers due to these mostly interrelated criteria. To increase these known factors during the proposal preparation is one possibility to enhance the market position of the SME. Thereby, a consideration of different variants of manufacturing a product and the premature investigation of resources and their capacities is necessary. Within the scope of this paper is introducing a conceptional framework for the evaluation of different process variants to manufacture a product. Thereby, we are using genetic algorithms to optimize and evaluate process variants including the necessary resources and their capacitive use in an evaluated period. Additionally, we want to introduce our prototypical implementation.
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Paper Nr: 140
Title:

BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL FOR INCORPORATING DESCRIPTIVE AUDIO IN TV SHOW PRODUCTION
Authors:

Yuval (Jack) Sade, Atul Garg and Malgorzata Plaza
Abstract: Audio Description (AD) is an effective tool which can enhance the comprehension of a TV show or a movie for visually impaired audiences. Unfortunately, the implementation of AD tends to be expensive and only a few companies adopt this practice. For example, only a handful of films are audio described for the visually impaired. This paper evaluates an Alternative Method, a new process model developed for a TV show production industry, in which AD is incorporated into the production process. The currently adopted practice or a Conventional Method requires sending an episode to a third party describer in order to add AD. According to the preliminary results of the analysis conducted in this paper, Alternative Method is slightly more efficient than a currently adopted practice but allows reducing the production time and yields a superior quality product. The contribution of this research is that it provides a way to improve efficiency and effectiveness of AD, which will increase the range of its implementation.
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Paper Nr: 162
Title:

FORCASTING OF RENEWABLE ENERGY LOAD WITH RADIAL BASIS FUNCTION (RBF) NEURAL NETWORKS
Authors:

Otilia Elena Dragomir, Florin Dragomir and Eugenia Minca
Abstract: This paper focus on radial- basis function (RBF) neural networks, the most popular and widely-used paradigms in many applications, including renewable energy forecasting. It provides an analysis of short term load forecasting STLF performances of RBF neural networks. Precisely, the goal is to forecast the DPcg (difference between the electricity produced from renewable energy sources and consumed), for short- term horizon. The forecasting accuracy and precision, in capturing nonlinear interdependencies between the load and solar radiation of these neural networks are illustrated and discussed using a data based obtain from an experimental photovoltaic amphitheatre of minimum dimension 0.4kV/10kW.
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